


like, comment, and subscribe

by ArisuShanti



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gaming, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Video Games, Alternate Universe - YouTube, Denial of Feelings, Fanboy Andrew Minyard, Fanboy Neil Josten, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Social Media, Twitter, but thats just backstory so dw yall its not sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-02-18 11:40:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21560563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArisuShanti/pseuds/ArisuShanti
Summary: Andrew Minyard has been doing YouTube and streaming for almost 3 years now, and has a modest 6 million subs. Everything has been going smoothly, until he discovered a certain cosplaying YouTuber/streamer named Neil Josten.And because the internet is the internet, Andrew is now being shipped together with Neil, despite the fact they've barely even spoken to each other.~~~Neil Josten's YouTube and streaming career has started off fantastically well, gaining nearly 4 million subscribers in only a year. He's managed to keep his obsession over Andrew Minyard a secret, watching all his videos, coming to all his streams under a second account.He had everything under control, but that was until he got discovered watching Andrew's stream and finally said something to him.And because the internet is the internet, Neil is now being shipped with Andrew, despite the fact they've barely spoken to each other.
Relationships: Allison Reynolds/Renee Walker (All For The Game), Matt Boyd/Danielle "Dan" Wilds, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 341
Kudos: 853





	1. Streaming is a Difficult Job

**Author's Note:**

> this is completely self indulgent have fun :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the boys' first encounter. the internet goes WILD

**MinyardGames** posted a new video _'Outlast isn't even that scary, you guys are just losers'_

_ Description:  _

people are scared of this game? lol imagine that.

Follow me on all my shit or else.

Twitter: @andrewminyard  
Instagram: @ajminyard  
Twitch: @MinyardGamesLive

no, i don't have a snapchat, do not fucking ask me to make one.

2,488 Comments

> **Ricardo Lee** _1 hour ago_ _  
> _how the fuck is he so straight faced?? i don't understand, i was shitting myself this entire time
> 
> **Noel Noel** _30 minutes ago_ _  
> _11:48 HE FLINCHED!! JUST A LIL BIT! ZOOM IN ON HIS ARM AND SLOW IT DOWN! I SWEAR!
> 
> **WhiteGold** _10 minutes ago_ _  
> _ngl hes kinda hot when hes not reacting to anything at all. is that just me?

* * *

Andrew scrolled through his top comments absentmindedly, reading the things they had to say. Most of them had to do with his apathetic behaviour, but that was to be expected. He tried to make that his niche, being completely unaffected by a multitude of games while slipping in some of his classic bone dry humour. Andrew half expected people to get bored of it immediately, but turns out indifference is in and his audience just couldn't get enough of it.

After a few more comments about how particularly sexy he looked in the video, Andrew decided that was enough scrolling for today. With a sigh, he pushed away from his desk and took out his phone to send out a quick tweet.

**Andrew Minyard** @ajminyard

new video out, go watch it now or else.

_ link: Outlast isn't even that scary, you guys are just losers _

Not even a second later after he sent the tweet, a flood of likes and retweets came through. Andrew briefly looked at some of them, and his heart thumped as he looked at the first retweet that he saw. 

**Neil Josten** (@neiljostenplays) retweeted your Tweet

> **Andrew Minyard** @ajminyard
> 
> new video out, go watch it now or else.
> 
> _ link: Outlast isn't even that scary, you guys are just losers _

It was stupid, and Andrew knew it, but he just couldn't help himself. Every time that stupid Josten guy interacted in any way, shape, or form with him, his heart fluttered. The worst part was he didn't even have a solid reason for it. He's never met him in real life, has never spoken to him, he hasn't even seen any of his videos. All Andrew knew about Neil Josten was that he liked to cosplay whenever he streams certain games, and he was absolutely drop dead gorgeous. 

Because he's gay and couldn't help himself, Andrew clicked on Neil's twitter profile to scroll through his tweets for the 12th time that month. He accidentally lingers on the cosplays more than he should, ogling one picture where Neil is flexing his bare arms in a silly manner. Despite the fact that it's clearly supposed to be ironic, Andrew feels his mouth go dry at the sight. 

"Christ," Andrew cursed and forced himself to close out of the app.

This felt like it was bad for his health, obsessing over someone he's never even spoken to. They were both fairly close in subs as to have it not be seen as him trying to gain 'clout', so that wasn't an issue. The MinyardGames YouTube channel hit 6 million subscribers a month ago, and NeilJostenPlays was just short of 4 million. Andrew imagined he would be hitting that milestone very soon anyways. But even so, he was probably straight so there was no point in trying to pursue anything.

His alarm suddenly sounded, and he simply turned on his phone to check what it was. _'Time to stream, bitch'_ his alarm read. Andrew sighed and scooted his way back to his desk to get himself set up for his afternoon stream.

* * *

 **Andrew Minyard** @ajminyard

going to stream minecraft while giving myself alcohol poisoning. come and watch my suffering, you sadistic fucks.

_ link: Minecraft hardcore, but everytime i die i take a shot _

Neil had been staring at his Twitter activity for almost 10 minutes because Andrew _fucking_ Minyard liked his tweet, when he saw his latest tweet that he was going live. It almost would have startled him, if it weren't for the fact that he instantly clicked on the link to be redirected to Twitch. He seemed to have caught Andrew in the middle of talking to the stream chat when he entered.

"-do an impromptu Q&A while waiting for a few more people to join in. I already got _this_ ready to go, we all know I'm going to need it." Andrew reached somewhere under his desk to bring out a half empty bottle of vodka. He put it close to the webcam so it could focus on the label, but Neil didn't really care about that. He was more so interested in the Q&A. Normally Neil would log on to his other twitch account to talk to Andrew so he wouldn't get recognized, but he was already here on his main account so he might as well watch for a bit before switching. 

This has been a part of his routine for almost two years now, even before he started YouTube and Twitch. Watch Andrew's latest video, then join his stream and talk with him through chat (using a discreet second account). Matt said that it was called being a 'fanboy', but Neil hated that word, especially in reference to him and Andrew. He would use the word 'admirer' instead, because that's what he did. He _admired_ Andrew's videos, and his commentaries, and his streams. It was the sole reason he got into streaming and posting videos in the first place.

At first he did it out of sheer boredom, not really expecting to get any attention. But as the days went on, his channel started getting more and more views until one day he hit 1 million subs. After that, everything just skyrocketed. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Neil spotted his name being mentioned in the chat, and his stomach dropped. This was the first time he's ever been busted, and he didn't really know what to do. It wasn't that strange that he was watching the stream, right? Sure, they've never _actually_ spoken to each other before, but that doesn't mean he couldn't watch.

> **riniswaifu:** wait is that actually neil josten?
> 
> **jinnan:** _@NeilJostenPlays_ yo wahts up bro!
> 
> **unlimitedblades:** _@NeilJostenPlays_ !!! bruh omg
> 
> **minyardfan99:** i love you andrew please notice me <33
> 
> **kratos88:** _@NeilJostenPlays_ hey man love ur cosplay videos, theyve really inspired me to pick up the hobby as well!

Andrew's eyes flicked to his other monitor that was just off camera and a single eyebrow went up. "Neil Josten is here?"

 _Oh fuck, oh shit, oh fuck._ Now, he _had_ to say something.

> **NeilJostenPlays:** Hi

Well, it wasn't what he wanted the first thing he said to him to be, but it was good enough.

Andrew moved towards his side monitor and squinted. "Well, would you look at that."

> **sweetrave:** WAIT it is him??
> 
> **CelticFox:** my two fave yt ppl interacting, this is amazing
> 
> **madramen:** collabcollabcollab

Neil had absolutely no clue what to do. Usually he was great at interacting with other YouTubers, hell even _PewDiePie_ mentioned him in one of his commentary videos. That man is a YouTube legend, yet _this_ is what gets him flustered. He had to compose himself, this was his chance to actually speak to him without hiding behind another name.

> **NeilJostenPlays:** Someone mentioned alcohol poisioning, so I'm here to see if _@MinyardGamesLive_ really is invincible.
> 
> **jinnan:** lmaoooo
> 
> **snowpirate:** ok i love this sm

Andrew scoffed, pointing a finger to the camera. "What, so you can take all my Prime Subs afterwards?

Neil unconsciously smiled as he typed out his response.

> **NeilJostenPlays:** No, but I won't deny them.

Neil swore he saw an inkling of a smile on Andrew's face, but that might have been him hallucinating from all the adrenaline he was feeling right now. Andrew just rolled his eyes and continued answering questions from the stream, seeming to have gotten bored of the interaction. Neil didn't mind too much though, this was more than he ever could have dreamed of. Plus, Andrew had a bit of a reputation for being inattentive and aloof.

> **minyardfan99:** ok so when are we getting a collab?
> 
> **hazelll:** YES!! ^^
> 
> **madramen:** COLLAB COLLAB COLLAB!!!

At first, Andrew ignored the demands for the two of them to collab (to Neil's disdain), but eventually the comments became too much and he finally responded.

"Alright, listen. You guys know that I don't do collabs with other YouTubers, Neil is no different. So, enough of that shit." He sounded annoyed, but his expression was blank.

> **minyardfan99:** DD: F
> 
> **nyjester:** ouch sorry _@NeilJostenPlays_
> 
> **artemis7799:** F
> 
> **valdezzz:** F

He wasn't super shocked that he responded like that. It's fairly well known that Andrew refuses to make videos with other people. Some speculate it's because he's super egotistical and doesn't 'need help from others', while some think he's just uncomfortable around people in real life. Neil leans more towards the latter theory, because he feels the same way about it. There's a big difference between talking to chat, and actually carrying a conversation with someone in a call. He decides to voice his own thoughts, so the sea of F's for him would stop.

> **NeilJostenPlays:** Haha, me too man. I'm not good at talking to people either, so I won't hold this against you.

Feeling a bit confident, Neil adds one more comment.

> **NeilJostenPlays:** But I mean, if you ever wanted to play something together I won't protest

Andrew glanced at chat again and raises another eyebrow.

"Don't push your luck," was all he said. "Now, enough of this, let's fucking play."

* * *

It turns out that Andrew should have looked into the rules and basics of Minecraft a bit more before immediately jumping into a hardcore world. He managed to get the hang of it eventually, but that wasn't until 4 shots later. He would normally do streams like this that involved copious amounts of drinking, but Andrew was usually good at the game so he would end up being able to control when he took a shot or not. But, by the time an hour rolled by, he was halfway to passing out.

It also didn't help that stupid Neil Josten joined the stream. He didn't really do anything or say much after that initial conversation, but his presence during the first hour of the stream was unbearable. He could practically _feel_ those blue eyes staring into him as he struggled to figure out the crafting recipe for a fucking shield. (Sure, he could have looked in the crafting recipe book, but he wasn't a _quitter_ )

Andrew had half a mind to accept Neil's invitation, honestly. He's been considering doing one for a while now, but no one came to mind that he would be willing to spend 4 hours talking to. Plus, it would be a good way to make 'friends', which is something Betsy kept pushing him to do. He was at a fairly stable point in his life, so it wouldn't be a terrible idea. Well, as stable as it could get for Andrew at least.

He glanced at the clock to see that it was already approaching 9pm, which is usually around the time where he ended the stream. It wouldn't be too hard to find an excuse to end the stream, he was pretty drunk. 

"Okay, there _has_ to be diamonds here somewhere. I can fucking _smell them._ " Andrew slurred slightly, talking out loud. That was another thing he had to get used to for streaming, saying his thoughts for commentary. It helped with his communication problems with people, so Bee encouraged him to keep doing that too.

Suddenly and unsurprisingly, Andrew's character fell into a pit of lava as he was digging straight down (his chat warned him not to do it, so naturally he did it anyways). Too tipsy to care, Andrew simply slammed his head onto his keyboard, thankful that it was all finally over. A few seconds later, the flood of F's from the chat came in.

> **EternallyBlue:** what did we say andrew?
> 
> **blackheart:** F
> 
> **ultranetwork577:** F
> 
> **revthomato:** valiant effort
> 
> **Copperions:** F
> 
> **minyardfan99:** F

" _Alright_ ," he sighed and stretched out his arms. "That's enough for tonight. I'm gonna go finish drinking in my room and pass the fuck out."

He clicked a button on his computer so the stream changed scenes to one where his facecam takes up the whole screen and his chat is to the side. 

"Hope you all enjoyed that, because I sure as hell didn't. Before I sign off, let's look at some of the subs and donations I missed."

Andrew spent a few minutes acknowledging the people who subbed and donated to him. His tone was flat and bored the entire time, but there was still a large part of him that was genuinely thankful for all the support. When he started streaming and posting videos, he was still at the point where he had trouble expressing emotions, so most of the time his acknowledgements seemed half-assed and ingenuine. People seemed to cling to his sarcastic and unmoving nature, so even when he was okay to show a bit of appreciation, he kept most of it underwraps. Mostly due to his image, and also because when he actually seemed moved by something, it was that much more dramatic and effective on his audience.

"That looks like all of them, then. Thanks for watching the strea-." Andrew began, but was cut off by his sub notification sound screaming ['WET! WET! WET!'](https://youtu.be/n-jIeIjn8ws) in his ear (he thought it was funny). He looked to his other monitor and had to fight to not have his face show any of the surprise he was feeling.

 **NeilJostenPlays** just wasted a Twitch Prime Sub!

_Since you survived and I can't take all your prime subs, you can have mine as a consolation prize._

He could see his chat going wild, but he forced himself not to look. Instead, he stared into the camera as he resisted the smirk he knew was trying to twitch onto his lips.

"Thank you to the one and only Neil Josten for the prime sub. Are you looking for a reward? A pat on the back?" he asked sarcastically, challenging him. In an instant, he responded in the chat.

> **NeilJostenPlays:** A follow back on Twitter would be pretty nice.

Andrew opened his mouth to retort back, but Neil commented agian.

> **NeilJostenPlays:** But I won't push my luck ;)

This time, Andrew failed to fight his expression away and let his face curl into a sly smirk. "You're learning."

He turned his attention back to the stream chat. "I'll see you all soon."

**MinyardGamesLive** went offline.

* * *

Neil woke up to the sound of his phone buzzing like crazy. He groaned and silently cursed himself for forgetting to put it on 'Do Not Disturb' before he went to bed last night. Reluctantly, he grabbed it off his desk and opened it up to an onslaught of Twitter notifications. He liked to keep his mentions on to make sure he can interact with people as much as possible, but it was times like these where he wished he wasn't so present on social media. 

He quickly unlocked his phone and opened up the app. When he saw all his mentions and the third trending tag on Twitter, he hesitated. _What the fuck was going on?_

 **neil is my dad** @jostenskeyboard

i cant believe i missed the first **#andreil** stream! im going to lose my mind.

**laura <3 ** @laurawaters

apparently **#andreil** is a thing. honestly? i stan.

**andrew's son** @minyardsale

_[Picture: Zoomed in screencap of Andrew's stream where he's smirking at the camera]_

I'M PRETTY FUCKING SURE THIS IS THE FIRST TIME ANDREW HAS EVER MADE AN EXPRESSION! AND IT WAS BECAUSE OF @neiljostenplays SO UHHHH **#ANDREIL** !!!

Neil, being the internet connoisseur that he was, responded in the only way he knew how.

**Neil Josten** @neiljostenplays

What the fuck is an Andreil?

* * *

And Andrew, being the communicative and cooperative person that he was, responded in the only way _he_ knew how.

 **Andrew** @andrewminyard  
(replying to @neiljostenplays)

The internet's way of saying it wants us to date, idiot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyyy so i totally forgot to make notes so im going back to do that. i finished writing this shit at like 1am and decided to post it on a whim without even looking at it, so im glad people like it! i am planning on making this an ongoing series, but im unsure how long its going to go on for. i guess we'll find out!
> 
> follow me on [tumblr](http://arisushanti.tumblr.com/) and [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/arisushxnti/)!
> 
> i made an inspo playlist based off this fic, you can listen to it on spotify [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4edHc4k7Kd5EOqGGLxrDRZ?si=mr2d9FY8ShaqnAM0J72J1A)
> 
> if you like my writing, consider supporting me by donating to my [ko-fi page](http://ko-fi.com/arisushanti)! not at all necessary, but much appreciated anyways.


	2. I Can't Resist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the boys just can't fucking help themselves, can they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the comments are all of us tbh

**NeilJostenPlays** posted a new video _'Breath of the Wild pt.3 w/ Gerudo Link Cosplay!'_

_ Description: _

I've been working on this cosplay for a while now, and I'm excited to finally feature it in a video. 10,000 likes for a makeup tutorial? (That's what people do to get likes, right?)

Follow me on all my other social media @NeilJostenPlays for some BTS stuff and pictures.

1,567 Comments

> **Eleanor Drew** _2 hours ago_
> 
> Use me as a "Neil looks really hot as Gerudo Link" button <3
> 
> **Kyle West** _2 hours ago_
> 
> I'm straight, but I busted the fattest nut when I saw that gerudo link cosplay
> 
> **lily gallaghan** _1 hour ago_
> 
> came here after watching andrew minyard's stream the other day and tbh??? the shippers may be on to something, y'all would be cute as FUCK together
> 
> **mei mei** _30 minutes ago_
> 
> YOU AND ANDREW ACTUALLY NEED TO COLLAB! Everyone like this so Neil can see!

* * *

"Matt, are you seeing this?" Neil sighed, glancing at his phone that was lying on his desk.

 _"Something tells me they want you and Andrew to do a video together, and also makeout."_ Matt's voice came through the speaker, sarcastically.

"Come on, man."

 _"What? Just DM the guy and ask to do a video with him!"_ Neil pinched the bridge of his nose and pushed away from his desk, causing his chair to spin out slightly.

"You don't get it. He literally said _on stream in front of everyone_ that he doesn't want to," Neil huffed.

_"Yeah, and then he said 'Don’t you push your luck' afterwards, which is like a 'Yes' in Andrew talk essentially."_

"I can't just assume that, I need to hear him say either yes or no explicitly."

Matt chuckled. "So _we agree that you just need to talk to him, then."_

Neil groaned, putting his face into his hands.

It's been five days since the infamous 'Andreil' stream, and the minute it ended people started sharing clips of their encounter all over every platform that existed. Sometimes Neil forgot how quickly things spread on the internet nowadays. 

Ever since then, people have been blowing up his DM’s and mentions about the two of them and how they should be together. He imagined Andrew was getting the same treatment (but probably handling it better, because he's more suave than Neil could ever be).

”I don’t want it to seem like I’m just appeasing the crowd, though. If I go to him after all the days of this bullshit, he’ll think I’m just sick of it, and using him to get rid of all the comments about us,” he explained. That was what worried him the most, Andrew thinking he was just trying to use him for views. 

_“Then explain that to him,”_ Matt said. Neil can practically see that ‘Duh’ expression on his smug face.

”It’s a little more complicated than that, Matt.”

_“Actually, it really isn’t. You know what I think?”_

“I’m dying to know,” he deadpanned.

 _”I think you’re just scared,”_ Matt stated, matter-o-factly.

Neil scoffed. “That is absolutely-“

He interrupted before Neil could finish his sentence. ” _You’ve been in love with this guy for what, a year now?”_

”It’s been two years first of all, and I’m not in love-!” He began to argue, but was cut off once more.

 _”Save it for the shippers.”_ Matt brushed off his protests. _“Okay, I get it. You’re nervous because now you’re playing with the big boys in the big leagues, and your huge fat crush noticed you.”_

“ _Crush?_ Come on.” Neil frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. “I still don’t see your point.”

Matt’s sigh somehow sounded more defeated through the phone than in real life. "I love you, but sometimes you're so fucking stupid, you know that?"

Neil opened his mouth to complain more, when the sound of a door opening came from Matt's side of the line and a familiar voice spoke.

 _"Babe, who're you talking to?"_ She asked. There was a bit of shuffling heard.

 _"Oh, welcome home, Dan. It's just Neil, say hi!"_ He responded.

"Hey, Dan." Neil greeted, waving even though he knew she couldn't see it.

There was the sound of the phone being passed off, and then she replied. "It's been a while! How're you doing?"

"I'm fine," he said, not quite sure if he meant it or not.

Dan chuckled. "Classic Neil."

After that, she went on to talk about what her and Matt have been up to recently. It seems that they've found a new apartment near both of their workplaces, Dan being a physiotherapist and Matt being recently promoted to assistant manager at his work. It was nice to hear from them again, since they've all been busy with their respective professions.

Neil met the couple when the three of them went to Palmetto State University (him and Matt shared a Spanish class together, and he got paired with him often for projects). The three bonded immediately and were inseparable, even after Dan and Matt graduated. When Neil decided to move to California after his YouTube and streaming career demanded it, it nearly killed him to break the news to them. Thankfully, they were extremely supportive and encouraged him to make the move. It saddened Neil to be so far away from his only friends, but thankfully they still made time to visit each other when their schedules allowed it.

 _"Alright man, we've got to get ready for bed. Stupid nine-to-fives, y'know?"_ Matt yawned, after what seemed like hours of talking. Neil checked his clock and frowned. It was 8pm for him, which meant it was 11pm for them. Yet another reminder that he lived so far away from them.

"Okay, sure. Have a goodnight, it was nice talking to you both again." He said. Neil was sad that they had to go so soon, but he concealed it easily.

 _"Goodnight!"_ Dan said, cheerily.

 _"Night, Neil."_ Matt said, sounding much more tired than Dan did.

Neil hung up first, and tossed the phone onto his bed, his own body following shortly after it. The one thing that he hadn't expected about becoming a full-time YouTuber was how utterly exhausting it was. One would think that sitting around, playing games, and posting them online would be easy. But of course, nothing is ever easy when it came to anything he did.

His phone vibrated, sending the feeling all the way to his face, and Neil lifted his head to check. When his eyes finally focused on the notification, he felt his stomach do a flip inside his body. Hastily, he opened up Instagram to read the message for himself.

**ajminyard**

hey

Neil stared at his screen for what felt like hours. He couldn't believe his own eyes. Andrew Minyard messaged him. Andrew _fucking_ Minyard. Neil could have sworn that the man hated him after everything that's happened.

Shaking himself out of his trance, Neil triple checked for that blue check mark next to his name to confirm that it was really him. It was. A few more seconds of shock went by, until he was struck with horror when he realized he was leaving Andrew on read.

**neiljostenplays**

Hello

**ajminyard**

you're neil

**neiljostenplays**

And you're Andrew

**ajminyard**

you joined the stream a few days ago

**neiljostenplays**

I did

Neil was thoroughly confused as to whether this was going well or not. He couldn't help but feel that Andrew was a bit strange to talk to. A new message came in, which confirmed Neil's thoughts.

**ajminyard**

you're going to twitch con

**neiljostenplays**

Is that a question or a statement?

**ajminyard**

both

**neiljostenplays**

If you insist, then.

_Seen_

Neil waited a few minutes to see if he would start typing again, but he didn't. 

"That was interesting..." He mumbled to himself under his breath, still trying to calm down his fast beating heart.

Neil glanced at the clock on his computer and saw that the time was slowly crawling towards 8:30pm, and he realized he soon won't have enough time to get into costume for his late night stream. With a sigh, he got up and hurried to get changed.

* * *

"I think that went pretty good, all things considered." Renee said through a mouth full of ice cream. She sat on the recliner across the room from Andrew, a tub of mint chocolate chip in her arms.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Andrew asked, almost accusing. Renee shook her head.

"I mean, considering all the awkward comments and theories that surround the two of you, I think the conversation went pretty smoothly." She clarified, pointing her spoon at him to emphasize her point.

Andrew glanced down at the phone in his hand that was opened to the DM between him and Neil. "I guess."

"Is this why you called me over?" She asked. Andrew glanced over at her, but her face was calm and neutral.

He shrugged. "No."

"If it is, then that's okay. I don't mind helping you out with your boy problems." The sentence was a bit mocking, but her tone was sweet and considerate.

Andrew didn't answer, instead choosing to take a bite from his own tub of ice cream that laid in his lap. Renee understood his signal easily, and remained silent, eating her own dessert without another comment.

That was what he liked about her, she understood when it was time to talk and when it wasn't. She was good at reading into the subtleties, and when it came to Andrew, everything was a subtlety. He always thought that she was a mind reader, because of the way she was able to tell exactly what you were thinking. Back in university, that was ironically one of the reasons he despised her. The only people allowed to poke around in his head are himself, and occasionally Bee. Over time though, he understood it was a valuable gift to have, and decided not to hold it against her. Plus, it made interactions much easier.

Now, she's probably the only person Andrew would consider a friend, as sad as people might think that was.

A few minutes passed and she spoke up again. "Has he said anything else to you?"

"No," Andrew replied, not bothering to check his phone. He knew he wouldn't.

"I meant before this week."

Without even needing to think, he responded again. "Also, no."

She hummed in understanding, popping her spoon into her mouth to clean off the excess. With an elegant move, she put the spoon back into the tub and set it down on the coffee table in front of her. Then, without a sound, she made her way over to Andrew's couch and sat next to him, leaving a comfortable space between them.

"Have you spoken to Aaron recently?" 

"Two weeks ago." When she didn't say anything back, he added in an explanation. "His exams are coming up, you know how med school is."

She nodded. "That's why I could never become a doctor."

"You and me, both." Andrew deadpanned. Renee let out a huff of laughter.

For a while, the two settled into easy conversation. The topics ranged from their weapon of choice during the zombie apocalypse, to how long they thought a person could last by consuming only chunky peanut butter. (The correct answer was 3 days, because they would just die from dehydration.) Talking with Renee always came easy, whether it be about inane speculations or personal things. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he appreciated her.

"Oh, hang on one second." Renee held up a finger to pause their conversation, and fished her phone out of her pocket. She looked down at it and a small smile came onto her face, and she started typing.

Andrew's curiosity got the better of him. "Anyone I know?"

"Sort of," she replied, before putting her phone back into her pocket. He raised his eyebrow and waved his hand towards her as a signal for her to elaborate.

"Do you know Allison Reynolds?" she asked.

"The makeup YouTuber?" he questioned.

"Beauty guru," she corrected. "But yes, her. I met her during that influencer party we were invited to two months ago."

That was a surprise. He remembered some moments from the party, but most of it was hazy due to the copious amounts of alcohol he consumed there. It was hosted by the professional e-sports player, Kevin Day, and even though he constantly looked like he had a stick up his ass, he knew how to throw a party. Since Renee was a fairly big ASMRtist (he hated that term), and Andrew was acquaintances with Kevin, the two were both invited to his lavish Los Angeles home.

It was Andrew's first time meeting other streamers and YouTubers in a public setting without any fans or cameras watching them, and he remembered it being mildly uncomfortable. Mostly because he didn't know many people there, and had no intentions of changing that. He briefly recalled seeing Renee wander off and talk to Allison for a bit, but he payed no mind to it.

"How long?" Andrew asked. He was surprised that he hadn't been able to figure that out yet. It goes to show how busy they both are and how little they've been able to speak to each other recently.

"We started properly talking a week after the party, so a little less than two months I'd say." Her lips curled into a small smile. "She actually invited me to go along to Twitch Con with her next month."

Andrew's mind thought back to his recent text conversation with a certain someone. "Sounds like fun."

"I'm excited," she said. "Maybe you can meet up with Neil there and get to know him!"

"Maybe," he answered, noncommittally.

She smiled at him, and made a show of lifting her hand up to place it on his shoulder. When Andrew made no moves to stop her, she gave him a small reassuring pat. 

"Maybe, indeed."

* * *

 **MinyardGames** posted a new video _'Stream Highlights #44'_

_ Description: _

this month's stream highlights. thanks to minyardfan99 for compiling all of these clips for the video.

follow me on all my shit, or else

Twitter: @andrewminyard  
Instagram: @ajminyard  
Twitch: @MinyardGamesLive

no, i don't have a snapchat, don't fucking ask me.

3,289 Comments

> _Pinned by MinyardGames  
> _ **minyardfan99** _2 hours ago  
> _
> 
> <3
> 
> **IAmKai** _1 hour ago_
> 
> HE INCLUDED THE NEIL CLIP! I REPEAT, HE INCLUDED THE NEIL CLIP! What does it all mean?!
> 
> **Shay Peace** _30 minutes ago_
> 
> andreil gang rise UP!

Neil scrolled through the comments obsessively, combing over every single one that had a mention of his name. His phone buzzed incessantly, Neil assuming it was people tagging him about Andrew's new video (and his appearance in it), but he had already watched it the instant it came out anyways so it didn't matter. 

He had half a mind to comment something on it, but he knew if he did, then the whole 'Andreil' situation would get 10x worse. It was already bad enough without them outwardly speaking to each other, he didn't want to think what it would be like if they publicly interacted. Then again, maybe if they were friendly with each other and made it clear they were just friends, it would improve. Neil scrolled down to another comment.

> **AnimeFan06** _1 hour ago_
> 
> idec if neil and andrew are friends, they're hot and i will stand by this crackship until the day i die

Yeah, no. That seemed to answer his question for him.

With a tremendous amount of effort, he forced himself to click off the video to focus on more pressing matters instead. It's been a while since he's posted anything on Instagram, and people have been complaining, which means he had to deliver. He took a few selfies in his Link cosplay after he recorded his gameplay, so he might as well post that. Maybe that would distract everyone from the Andreil ordeal.

* * *

Andrew was going to have a fucking stroke. Who gave this man the right to post something so sinfully sexy? He should be more considerate to people who have no self control to be able to look away. This was borderline criminal.

> **neiljostenplays** _  
> Gerudo Valley_
> 
> Liked by **ajminyard** and **6,482 others**
> 
> **neiljostenplays** Due to popular demand, here's a mirror selfie of my Gerudo Link cosplay! More (and actually professional) photos to come in the future, so look out for that. 
> 
> _View all 2,346 comments_
> 
> **mattboyyyd** YEAH, GO NEIL! YOU SEXY TWINK ELF!  
>  **neiljostenplays** @mattboyd I'm not a twink!!!! D:  
>  **andreilupdates** you're so hot oh my god. andrew is lucky.
> 
> _2 hours ago_

Neil Josten was going to be the death of him, and Andrew refused to go without dragging Neil down with him. It already took enough willpower out of him to _not_ watch his Breath of the Wild video, but at this point Neil was just kicking him while he was down. 

He didn't even care if people saw that he liked it, he just had to. It was reactionary, as was him immediately saving it to his '90%' folder. The 90% represented how much he wanted to strangle Neil, and it was filled to the brim with every single photo he posted on the godforsaken site. No, he was not obsessed with Neil.

And as the cherry to top off this atrociously gay sundae, Andrew was going to see him in a month when the two of them attended TwitchCon. There was no doubt that Neil was going to attend the convention in cosplay, probably one where he was scantily-clad, just to spite him. 

Andrew hated him. He hated how gorgeous he was. He hated _himself_ for thinking how gorgeous he was. He hated it all.

But, Andrew was a creature of impulse and self-destruction, so without thinking he typed out a comment and pressed send immediately.

> **ajminyard** how dare you.

* * *

Neil, too, was a creature of impulse and self-destruction. So he responded in turn.

> **ajminyard** how dare you.
> 
> **neiljostenplays** @ajminyard :) See you at TwitchCon!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't really know how long this fic is gonna be tbh. all i knows is that i love social media/twitter/youtube au's so im gonna keep fucking going with this until i figure out an ending to it. thank you all for the support tho i was NOT expecting this to get so many hits in the first few days <3
> 
> ALSO the cosplayer that's going to be our 'neil' for the series is geheichou on twitter and ig! just in case any of you were wondering who that was.
> 
> follow me on [tumblr](http://arisushanti.tumblr.com/) and [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/arisushxnti/)!
> 
> i made an inspo playlist based off this fic, you can listen to it on spotify [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4edHc4k7Kd5EOqGGLxrDRZ?si=mr2d9FY8ShaqnAM0J72J1A)
> 
> if you like my writing, consider supporting me by donating to my [ko-fi page](http://ko-fi.com/arisushanti)! obviously not mandatory, but greatly appreciated because im depressed and love money


	3. Fancy Seeing You Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the boys attend twitchcon, and have their first encounter. it goes about as well as you expect.

> **neiljostenplays**   
>  _San Diego Convention Center_
> 
> Liked by **hemmick_nicky** and **7** **,492 others**
> 
> **neiljostenplays** So excited to be attending TwitchCon for the first time this year. I'm going to have a Meet & Greet on Friday in Hall A @ 2:00pm, hope to see some of you there!
> 
> _View all 3,698 comments_
> 
> **neiljostenplays** Also here's the cosplay lineup for the weekend: Friday- Prompto (Final Fantasy), Saturday- Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Sunday Morning- Link (Breath of the Wild), Sunday Afternoon- Gerudo Link (also Breath of the Wild)  
>  **hemmick_nicky** oh no, hes hoooooooot (also andrew says hi, but he's driving rn and can't comment)  
>  **mattboyyyd** Go Neil, you funky little man!
> 
> _1 hour ago_

"Nicky, so help me god, I will throw you out that window," Andrew deadpanned.

Nicky laughed, looking over at him from the passenger seat of his car. "How? You're driving."

"I'll find a way," Andrew replied, in the most threatening tone he could muster.

Nicky gulped and raised his hands up in surrender, turning back to look at his phone. "He liked the comment! Oh, and he replied back too! He says 'Tell him I say hi back'."

Andrew elected to not respond, digging his fingers into the steering wheel instead of throttling the living hell out of his cousin.

"Hey Andrew," Nicky said.

"What." He deadpanned.

"Neil Josten says hi."

"Fuck off." His comment caused Nicky to throw his head back in laughter. The man thought he was safe, just because he was driving. How naive.

The two were on their way to San Diego to go to TwitchCon. They both lived in Los Angeles, and since Nicky was the worst driver to walk the planet, they decided to carpool there together. Neil had an apartment in San Diego, so it probably didn't take him too long to get there, but for the cousins it was a two hour drive. Which meant he had to spend two hours listening to Nicky talk about his boyfriend, Erik.

"Did I tell you about what Erik gave me for our anniversary?" Nicky asked, excitedly. He had. Twice. 

"It's way too early for this," Andrew said.

"It's 9am!" Nicky protested, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Exactly. Too early."

"Well anyways, he got me this cute necklace of an E that has our anniversary date engraved into it! Isn't that so sweet?" 

Andrew rolled his eyes in response.

"But hey, Neil says that he has a Meet & Greet today at 2pm." Nicky said, reading off of his phone. "Don't you have one around that time too?"

He's been thinking about that the entire time Nicky found the post and showed it to him. The whole time he's been trying to comfort himself by constantly reminding himself in his head that the place was huge, and it's unlikely that they'd put the two of them next to each other. Why the fuck did he ask Neil to come again? (Not that Andrew was the one to actually convince him, he was probably going to go anyways)

"Yeah, 2:45pm." He replied, making himself sound casual.

"Maybe you'll get to meet each other then!" 

"Maybe."

Andrew really hoped they wouldn't.

* * *

Neil really hoped that he'd get to meet Andrew this weekend. For the entire month leading up to it, he's been slaving over all of the costumes he was going to bring to try and refine them as much as possible. If he was going to see Andrew in person for the first time, he wanted to look professional and good, not like some kid trick-or-treating on Halloween. 

He made it a point to make a new cosplay for the convention as well, but since he wasn't confident in his time management skills, he decided to go for something more simple. Thus came his Prompto cosplay. It wasn't too difficult to put together and style the wig, and by the time he put it on for the first time, he felt proud about it.

Neil opened up his phone to check the comments on his new post as he stepped into an elevator. He was glad he made the decision to move to San Diego, if he hadn't he would have been stuck on a seven hour flight to the convention. Instead, it only took him fifteen minutes to drive to the venue.

Looking through his comments, he spotted one from Nicky Hemmick and let a tiny smile creep onto his face. Neil has never met Nicky before, but he would watch a few of his vlogs in the past. (Mostly the ones with Andrew in it, because he knew the two were cousins and would always look out for the vlogs with Andrew in the thumbnail). The man was very eccentric and entertaining, and had this innate ability to make anything interesting through the sheer force of his personality. He didn't know much about Nicky, except for the fact that he was Andrew's cousin, started posting vlogs before Andrew created his channel, and had a German boyfriend named Erik. 

Before the elevator reached the ground floor, he typed out a cheeky comment in response and shoved his phone into his jeans pocket. The doors opened up and a three girls were standing in front of it, talking animatedly with each other. They looked up as the doors slid open, and one of the girls wearing an Overwatch shirt gasped.

"Oh my god! You're Neil Josten, right?" she asked, her mouth dropping open in shock.

Neil chuckled awkwardly. "Uh, yeah, I am."

One girl with black cat ears shoved her phone into his hands. "Can I have a picture with you?"

The rest chimed in with 'me too!', 'can I have one as well?', and 'I love you!' Neil didn't quite know how to respond, this was his first fan encounter in real life.

He mustered the kindest smile possible. "Sure thing, I'd love to."

They all turned into puddles of fangirling mess. Neil graciously went around and individually took a picture with all of them, making sure to keep the arm around their shoulders respectful and gentle. The last thing he needed was another controversy surrounding himself. He handed the last girl her phone, and turned around to leave. Then, he felt a tug on his sleeve and noticed one of the other girls with blue hair was holding on to him.

"Um, Neil, can I ask you something?" she asked, sheepishly.

Neil tilted his head to the side. "Sure, go ahead."

"Are you and Andrew actually a thing? I've been watching him for awhile and have never seen him react like that before, and I just _needed_ to know what made you so special to him!"

Neil was caught off guard. First off, by how straightforward the question was. She could have at least been more subtle about it. But he never considered himself anything special, especially when it came to Andrew.

"Er, I don't really know what you're talking about..." he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. These were dangerous waters here.

"Oh, come on!" she pushed on. "At least give me _some_ kind of answer! You owe us this."

Neil considered it for a moment, ignoring the insensitivity of her words. For once, he decided to answer as truthfully as possible.

"I don't know, I don't think I'm anything special to him." He shrugged. "We're just messing around with each other, anyways. But if he ever wants to stop, then I'll withdraw. I respect him too much to actively make him uncomfortable."

The girl seemed excited with his answer and thanked him, rushing back to her friends to inform them about everything he said.

With a shrug, Neil turned around to make his way down to the Expo Halls.

* * *

> **ajminyard  
> ** _San Diego Convention Center_
> 
> Liked by **asmrenee** and **9,215 others**
> 
> **ajminyard** @hemmick_nicky and i are at twitchcon now. im having a meet and greet @ 2:45pm in Hall A. be there, or be square. 
> 
> _View all 5,483 comments_
> 
> **hemmick_nicky** :DD love spending time with you dear, cousin <3  
>  **ajminyard** i will leave you here. @hemmick_nicky  
>  **minyardsfrown** oh my g o d please step on me andrew

This year should have been like any other year that he went to the convention, except for the fact that he was constantly on guard and watching out for Neil. It wasn't that Andrew was _avoiding_ him per se, he was just strategically planning his route around his. 

The first couple of hours went by without any issues. He walked around the center with Nicky, Renee, and Allison (who they later met up with), tested out some soon to be released games for next year, spoke to a couple of fans, and greeted other people in the industry. It was normal, and everything that Andrew was used to in the previous years that he came.

But as 2:45pm slowly started approaching, he could feel his nerves increasing. Andrew didn't even think he _had_ nerves at this point. But of course, that stupid Josten sparked many irritating things in him, including, but not limited to mild anxiety for the near future.

"I'm going to go to the meet and greet spot now," Andrew said, accidentally interrupting Nicky's conversation with a few other streamers that he didn't bother to remember the names of. 

"Alright, text me when you're done. Have fun!~" Nicky said, suggestively, giving him a wink for good measure. Andrew ignored him.

He made his way easily through the building, having already memorized it's layout years ago when he first went. As he entered Hall A, he soaked in the familiarity of the room and atmosphere. The large signs with people's names on it and the stark white tables underneath, the waiting lines neatly organized in front of each respective streamer, the eager fans shifting from foot to foot restlessly. 

Andrew was around ten minutes early so he could meet with the coordinators to confirm things with them. His eyes scanned the signs for his name, until he just barely managed to spot it on the other side of the room. As he approached his spot, he noticed the sign right next to his own name and felt his heart begin to sink to the ground.

_'Neil Josten'_

Of fucking course. He shouldn't have been surprised at this point, these event coordinators always knew how to capitalize on what's been trending. Andrew stopped in front of the sign next to his and looked at the long line of people queued up. He followed the line of people all the way to the man himself, Neil Josten, dressed up as Prompto from Final Fantasy XV and looking infuriatingly fine.

He was going to strangle someone.

And to make it that much worse, Neil's brown contacted eyes caught Andrew's icy stare, and he had the nerve to smile. The fucking _gall_ to wave at him. The absolute _audacity_ to call out his name with such an angelic air to it, that it made Andrew want to barf whatever he had consumed the night before. 

He pretended not to hear him, and continued to his table to set up, but Neil was either an idiot or just didn't care. Probably both.

"Hey, Andrew!" Neil called out again. Andrew heard the sound of fifty heads turning towards him, and he felt his own shoulders tense up in the slightest bit.

He refused to turn around and look at him. If he did, he was afraid he might have a stupid look on his face, or worse, say something equally as stupid. So he didn't. Instead, he grabbed his phone and sent a quick 'fucking kill me' text to Renee in desperation. Almost immediately she replied with a thumbs up emoji, and Andrew almost threw his phone across the room.

That was when he heard footsteps approaching from behind him, and a hand on his shoulder.

"I swear to-" Andrew whipped around, but instead of Neil Josten standing there with a hand on his shoulder, it was Kevin Day. He almost let out a sigh of relief.

"Andrew, it's been a while since I've seen you." The tall man said to him in the most apathetic tone ever, that even he was impressed.

Andrew looked down at his hand on his shoulder, and back up at Kevin, shooting him a blank look of warning. Immediately, he retreated back a cautious step.

"Sorry, I forgot. Again, it's been a while." Kevin apologized.

Andrew waved his hand dismissively at him. "Just don't do it again."

Kevin nodded. "Looks like we're placed next to each other again." He gestured to the booths. "I assume you're here for the meet and greet?"

"What does it look like?" Andrew deadpanned

"You know, more people would watch you if you were less prickly." He commented.

"Good thing I don't give a shit." Andrew shrugged. "Is this conversation an excuse for you to lecture me? I already told you I don't need your advice on how to run my channel."

"No, that wasn't what this was about." Kevin shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Then what?" Andrew was already done with this conversation. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the line for his meet and greet expanding more and more.

“I saw your video,” he said, unhelpfully.

”Which one, I have a lot of videos, Kevin.” Andrew said, impatiently.

”Your Exy video.”

”Jesus Christ-,” Andrew cursed.

This had to be the third time this year that Kevin tried to convince him to get into professional e-sports, specifically Exy. It was a relatively new first person shooter game, where you're put on a team of six and have to defend your side of the map and gain ground against the enemy. There were different roles you could play that reminded him a bit of sports, but other than that, it was pretty cut and dry. 

Andrew had a lot of experience with other FPS games like Counter Strike, PUBG, and Call of Duty, so he tried his hand at it for a few streams the month it came out. Looking at all of the positions, he decided that 'keeper' was more of his style, and he honestly had a blast playing it. It felt natural and the game came easy to him. Those streams were the highest viewed streams he’s ever had to date.

But then, Kevin approached him during his stupid influencer party (he also hated that word), and it almost completely turned him off from the game. 

It’s not that he hated Kevin or Exy, he just hated it when people tried to tell him what to do. Plus, he wasn't interested in all the politics that came with joining a professional team.

”You didn’t even hear what I was going to say,” Kevin complained. Andrew raised a hand for him to stop.

"I don't need to," he replied, and walked away towards his table.

”Andrew, be reasonable!” he called out after him. 

Andrew responded maturely in turn, flipping Kevin off without a backward glance. The people waiting in his line laughed and Kevin just sighed.

When Andrew sat down at his table, one of the coordinators approached him and they discussed for the rest of the time about how the meet and greet was going to play out.

He was only partially paying attention to it, most of his interest directed towards his immediate right to try and keep an eye on Neil. It seemed that Neil was unfazed from Andrew ignoring him, and returned back to chatting with his fans easily. 

Andrew was practically mesmerized. Seeing him through a screen was great and all, but in person was something else entirely. He had an easy air to him, and even though he was clearly awkward with all of his fans, it was so endearing to watch that Andrew couldn’t help himself but observe.

One fan pulled a small personalized plush doll that she made of Neil, and Andrew swore he has never seen someone light up so bright than Neil did in that moment. With a nearly TV worthy grin, he accepted the doll with many thanks and posed for a picture with her. 

Andrew’s eyes went from Neil’s face, to the arm that he had carefully around the girl’s shoulders, and felt a stab of anger shoot through him. He didn’t know why it pissed him off so much, but it did.

”Alright Andrew, we’re about to open the lines up. Are you ready?” the coordinator asked him.

”Does it matter?” he replied, the anger still lingering in his voice.

The coordinator shook her head and unhooked the line, holding out a hand for the people standing there to wait.

Andrew climbed up on to the table to give himself some extra height (lord knows he needed it), and surveyed the crowd. He recognized a few faces from last year, but overall most of the people he saw were new. Interesting.

”Alright, listen the fuck up, because I’m only going to say this once!” he yelled out to the crowd. Immediately everyone went silent, even some of the people in Neil and Kevin’s line stopped their conversations.

”If you’ve been here before, you know the drill. If you haven’t, let me tell you my one and only rule.” He held up a finger.

”Do not fucking touch me. That’s it. I’ll take pictures with you, talk to you, accept your handmade goodies and whatever the hell. But if you lay one finger on me, I’ll have security remove you immediately. Understand?”

He expected people to nod furiously, or even salute at him like they did in the army. But instead, they started to cheer. Fans were weird, they'd cheer at anything you'd say to them. He could have insulted their mother, and they'd still clap loyally for him. 

”Alright then.” He looked down at the security guards that have gathered to watch over the line. “Release that mother fucking kraken.”

The coordinator and two guards took a step back, and immediately a group of girls surged forward. Andrew smoothly stepped down and sat down on the top of the table instead of his chair, because he could.

”Hi Andrew!” the girl directly in front of him greeted, she wore a shirt with an Overwatch logo on it.

”Hello,” he replied, blankly.

”Can we ask you some questions?” a girl with a black cat ear headband asked.

”Depends.”

"Have you met with Neil IRL?" she asked, actually spelling out the acronym 'IRL'.

He jabbed his thumb in the direction where Neil was standing, and didn't elaborate any further.

"Are you and Neil friends?" another asked.

"No," Andrew responded immediately, quickly getting bored of the tactless questions. Out of the corner of his eye, Andrew spotted that Neil had finished up his own meet and greet and was speaking to some of the event coordinators.

The girl frowned. ”What do you think of him, then?"

Andrew glared. “Are these questions just going to be about Josten? If all you want to do is talk about him, you might as well talk _to_ him since he's literally 15ft away. This is going to be a waste of my time, and yours.”

The girl with the Overwatch shirt frowned, but another girl with blue hair piped up.

"It's okay, this is like his persona to be all rude and sarcastic." She explained to her.

Andrew felt his eye twitch minimally. Sure, he would sometimes play up the stoic-ness a bit, but overall this was how he was. He wasn't playing a character or anything, and it pissed him off when people said that to him because he made it clear in the past that he wasn't just making this shit up. 

But, he was already too bored of the conversation to even bother correcting her. It was clear these girls were just here to intrude on his personal relationships, and he was quickly tiring of it (he didn't consider his relationship with Neil personal, because there was no actual relationship to begin with, but the point still stands).

He sighed, trying his best to not snap at them. "Can you all maybe just stand around me and take a picture instead so we can get this over with?"

The three girls frowned simultaneously.

"We just want to know about what's going on with you two! You're never been this passionate about any other person before, and the shippers need to know why! You _have_ to tell us, Andrew." The cat-eared girl spoke up. Her two other friends nodded furiously beside her, looking at him like he owed them the answers to it all.

That was fucking it. "Alright, listen up. You're all fucking delusional. Even if we _did_ have something going on, which we don't, it wouldn't be any of your fucking business anyways. It doesn't matter if we put our faces up on the internet for your viewing, we still need privacy. My relationships have no business being broadcasted to the world by people who think they know better. I'll say what I want to say, and tell you guys what I want to tell about myself. That's it."

All the accumulated anger and frustration from the past month spilled out of him like an overflowing dam. He didn't give a shit if these girls went to complain and had an article made by Buzzfeed on how 'problematic' he was. He did not give a single fuck. If these people were going to poke their noses into his business, they deserved to hear what he had to say about it all, whether they liked it or not.

Clearly, the girls were not happy about his response. 

"God, you're so stingy!" the blue haired girl sneered. "Why do you have to be so rude about it?"

"Actually, I agree with him." A familiar voice spoke from behind him

Andrew turned and has never been more thankful to see that idiot's face in his entire life. Neil stood there, somehow managing to pull of cheetah print pants, with his arms crossed over his chest and looking at the girls with an unamused expression. He made his way over to stand next to Andrew's side, leaning against the table.

"You already asked me these questions before, and despite your callousness I answered them." he said, sternly. Andrew observed his face as he spoke.

"Now, either you three leave on your own, or we'll call security to help you with that. What do you say?" Neil asked innocently. His expression was calm, but his tone was irritated and clipped. 

With a few grumbles and choice words, they reluctantly left the line, giving glares directed towards Andrew who had no problem returning them. Neil shook his head beside him.

"Do you get that a lot?" Neil asked, looking at him finally.

"Why did you do that?" Andrew asked, incredulously.

Neil blinked, taken aback for a moment. "Because no one deserves that kind of shit."

"I can handle myself alone you know."

"I know. I just wanted to let you know that you didn't have to," he responded with kind eyes. Andrew wanted to poke them out.

He frowned in response, and turned away from him to look at the next person in line.

Neil took that as his cue to leave, but before he did, he asked. "Are you staying in San Diego for the whole weekend?"

"I'm at the Milton near the convention center," Andrew responded. He was mildly curious about where he was going with this.

"Well-" He paused to clear his throat, a poor disguise for his nerves. "I live in San Diego, North Park actually, and was thinking of hosting this get together with all the influencers I knew."

Andrew raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the offer. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say this was an invitation."

"That's because it is," Neil replied easily. His face was suddenly unreadable now, which intrigued Andrew even more.

"Is Nicky allowed to come?" he asked.

"Of course."

He hummed in thought, pretending to consider it. Andrew already knew what he was going to do anyways.

"So, is that a yes from you then?" Neil asked, expectantly. It was a tad difficult for Andrew to take him seriously, considering he was wearing leopard print pants, but he managed.

"It's a maybe." Andrew shrugged, noncommittally.

Neil smiled the tiniest bit. "I can live with 'maybe.'"

"Good."

"Well then, I'll _maybe_ see you there." With that, Neil gave him a mocking bow and a wave goodbye, which Andrew returned by flipping him off as he laughed. Andrew watched his retreating form until he was out of sight, and let out a long breath. 

_Holy fucking shit._ He survived. Both of them did. Andrew didn't stab Neil, and Neil's proximity didn't cause Andrew to implode. Now all that was left to do was prepare himself for tonight.

"Oh my god, I can't believe I'm standing on front of you!" A female voice squealed.

Fuck, he almost forgot about the meeting fans part. Andrew shook his head.

_Business first, everything else later._

* * *

Neil's heart was beating a mile a minute. The instant he left the room, he sprinted towards the nearest exist and ran out into the cool, brisk San Francisco afternoon. He felt like he was about to pass out.

_I just spoke to Andrew Minyard. I just spoke to Andrew Minyard. I just spoke to Andrew Minyard._

That's all he could think of. Not only did he speak to Andrew, he defended him from rude fans _and_ invited him over to a party. A party that he has yet to plan, since that was just an on the spot way to be able to meet with him afterwards. Maybe he should have thought this through more. Well, surely a simple message to Nicky Hemmick would suffice, that man knew a lot of people, so it should be easy to find enough to come.

Quickly, he sent a DM to Nicky, explaining his situation and the urgency of it. He hasn't spoken to Nicky too much, only occasionally replying to his comments that he made on his Instagram posts, but the cousin at least seemed outwardly kinder than Andrew does. Almost immediately, Neil got a response from Nicky saying "don't worry boo, nicky's gotchu."

Neil let out a sigh of relief, until he saw the notification that he was tagged in a tweet that Nicky just posted.

 **Nicky Hemmick** @nickyhemmick

HEY! ANY YOUTUBERS/STREAMERS AT TWITCHCON, DM ME FOR THE ADDRESS TO A PARTY TONIGHT AT @neiljostenplays HOUSE!!! #TwitchCon2019 #ThanksNeil 

> **Allison Reynolds** @allisonreynolds  
> (replying to @nickyhemmick)
> 
> oh, worm? count me and @asmrenee in.
> 
> **Renee Walker** @asmrenee  
> (replying to @nickyhemmick and @allisonreynolds)
> 
> Yep. Thanks, Neil.
> 
> **Kevin Day** @EA_TheQueen  
> (replying to @nickyhemmick)
> 
> I'm coming
> 
> **Jeremy Knox** @TJ_Knoxout  
> (replying to @nickyhemmick)
> 
> can @TJ_Moreau and i come too?
> 
> **Jean Moreau** @TJ_Moreau  
> (replying to @nickyhemmick and @TJ_Knoxout)
> 
> ^^^

He was totally screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've had the most fun writing this than any other fic i've written. probably because i get to make lots of silly video game references.
> 
> oh look we have an andrew now! i'm not gonna lie to yall i saw an edit of this man and he was smoking in the video and i just went "yes. perfect. you are the one." FRECKLED ANDREW RIGHTS!!! hes @whothefckscaleb on ig :)
> 
> and yeah, i actually did mild research and looked into the city of san diego just to scout out the setting of this (and neil's house). i live in toronto, i have no fucking clue what neighbourhoods in san diego are!! although i have been there twice, and will say it is a very lovely city (shoutout to ppl who live there, dawg ur city is beautiful)
> 
> follow me on [tumblr](http://arisushanti.tumblr.com/) and [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/arisushxnti/)!
> 
> i made an inspo playlist based off this fic, you can listen to it on spotify [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4edHc4k7Kd5EOqGGLxrDRZ?si=mr2d9FY8ShaqnAM0J72J1A)
> 
> if you like my writing, consider supporting me by donating to my [ko-fi page](http://ko-fi.com/arisushanti)!


	4. Too Bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> neil prepares himself for the biggest youtuber party of the year, but finds himself in the company of an unexpected drop-in.
> 
> andrew is too curious for his own good, and needs answers.
> 
> they both are stupid pining messes, and also incredibly volatile at the same time

**Neil Josten** @neiljostenplays

Please don't break into my house at 4pm @ literally everyone! Come at around like 7:30pm or something and do it through the front door.

> **Nicky Hemmick** @nickyhemmick  
> (replying to @neiljostenplays)
> 
> We will! No promises about @ajminyard though ;)
> 
> **Andrew Minyard** @ajminyard  
> (replying to @neiljostenplays and @nickyhemmick)
> 
> what’s that supposed to mean

Neil was absolutely, completely, totally fucked. This was the shittiest idea he's ever had, and that's saying alot, because he's had alot of shitty ideas. After looking at the tweet and seeing a flood of almost 40 people saying they wanted to come within the first five minutes, he decided to go home early and prepare the house for whatever was about to come.

He got home at around 5:30pm (thanks to traffic), and immediately got to work on cleaning the house. He wouldn't consider himself a messy person, but it would be clear from just a cursory glance at the state of his home, he was unprepared for guests. And Neil did not want to be unprepared, especially concerning one individual in particular.

So, he went around the house like a madman and made sure every surface was spotless. It probably didn't matter because those surfaces would get covered up by solo cups soon enough, but he cleaned up anyways. Solo cups... Wait.

"Fuck!" Neil swore, face-palming in the process.

He forgot the alcohol. How could he forget to buy alcohol while he was coming back? Neil himself wasn't much of a drinker, only partaking whenever he went to a party (which never happened), so he never had any around the house. Now a bunch of internet famous people were going to show up at his door, expecting festivities. This was the worst idea ever.

Neil hastily got in his car and drove to the nearest liquor store, sending out a quick text to Nicky, his co-planner in all of this. (He got his number to make communication easier, and also because Nicky was pretty nice)

 **Neil**  
Do you have any beer or something? I don't have any alcohol at my house and a bunch of 20-something year olds are going to be trashing my place.

 **Nicky  
** oh umm

 **Nicky  
** i didn't bring any with me, cause i didn't think i needed to

 **Nicky  
** also this was your idea so-

 **Neil**  
Yeah, but I didn't think there was going to be like 100 people!

 **Nicky**  
relax buddy, i'll fix everything up for you. you get some, i'll get the rest.

 **Neil**  
Thank you. Do you need me to pay you back or anything?

 **Nicky  
** nah, just make sure you look all cute in return hehe

 **Neil**  
?

 **Neil**  
What

 **Nicky  
** ;DDD

Neil has learned to stop questioning things very quickly when it came to Nicky Hemmick. He walked into the store, bought a reasonable amount of booze without putting a strain on his wallet, and raced home. It was a miracle he wasn't killed on the way.

Stepping out of his car, he checked the time on his phone. It read 7:00pm, which meant he had around 30 minutes (assuming people actually listened to him) to prepare. He stood in his driveway and looked at his house, surveying the size and look of it.

It was bigger than anything he's ever owned previously, but compared to the mansions most of these people were probably used to, he imagined it'd look pretty small. Neil didn't think it could host more than 150 people, but he hadn't bought it with the intention of throwing parties. All he really wanted was a backyard and some space to work out at home.

With a shrug, he grabbed the bags from the trunk of his car and made his way to the door. Neil turned the handle of the front door, and was confused to find that it was unlocked. Carefully, with bags upon bags of booze in his arms, he pushed open the door to find the last person he expected sitting on his living room couch.

"Nice place you got here," Andrew commented, casually tossing an apple into the air and catching it again.

Neil blinked at him dumbly, frozen in utter shock. Was this a stress-induced hallucination? He slowly put the bags in his arms on the ground, to make sure he didn't drop them by accident. 

"How the fuck did you get in here?" Neil asked, still not quite sure if this was actually happening.

"I kept ringing the doorbell, but you didn't answer. So, I tried the door and saw that it was unlocked, and then just walked in." Andrew shrugged. "Why are you so surprised, did you not see my car out front?"

Neil glanced back out the open door and noticed a sleek black Maserati parked in front of the house. He must have been too preoccupied with everything else to notice.

”I said to come at 7:30pm and to also _not break into my house."_ He put emphasis on the breaking in part.

”You said _around_ 7:30 and it’s 7:00 right now. And I didn’t break in, you left your door unlocked.” Andrew replied easily, staring him down. "This is your fault."

It felt like some sort of test, a challenge that Neil needed to pass in order to be able continue speaking with him. He didn't know whether he was supposed to let Andrew do what he wanted, or put his foot down. He didn't care though. He was annoyed at the lack of respect Andrew had for his privacy. Seriously, who just walks into a persons house?

"What do you mean _my fault?_ Why couldn't you have just waited in your car like a normal person?!" he huffed, trying his best to keep his cool. Even after all these years, he still had a bit of a temper.

"Normal is boring." Andrew propped his elbow on the arm of the couch, resting his chin in it while he observed Neil. "And I hate being bored."

Neil sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "This isn't how I wanted out first introduction to be like."

"This _isn't_ our first introduction. Did you forget? You defended my honour against those teenage girls." He said, indifferently. It felt like Andrew was mocking him. He probably was.

Neil shook his head. "How about we just start over? Move past the fangirls and the breaking and entering-"

"If you don't want people like me coming in, lock your door next time." Andrew took another bite of the apple, and set it down on the coffee table in front of him, not even bothering to finish it or throw it in the garbage. 

He made his way towards Neil, and stopped until they were about a foot apart. Neil noticed it before when he went over to him during his meet and greet, but Andrew was surprisingly very short. It was hard to tell then exactly how short since Andrew was sitting on a table at the time, but now that they were face to face, it was glaringly obvious. He had to guess no taller than 5'0".

"Stop staring," Andrew said, shaking Neil out of his thoughts. Oh shit, he didn't even realize.

"Sorry, I was just thinking that-"

"Do not finish that sentence," Andrew replied, practically reading his mind.

He reached behind Neil to grab the bags he had abandoned on the floor (with an alarming amount of ease, he might add), and spun away from him to bring it into the kitchen. In an instant, Neil moved to stand in front of him, holding his hands out in protest.

"Hey, don't worry about that. I got it." Neil said, and when Andrew made no move to hand one over, he added. "You're my guest."

He extended his hand out towards Andrew to take one of the heavy bags. Andrew did a quick once-over of him and whatever he saw in him, he apparently deemed okay, since he handed off one of the bags to Neil without another word. Neil couldn't help but feel that he just passed the test and tried not to let it show on his face as Andrew sidestepped him into the kitchen.

The two set the bags down on the black marble countertop of his kitchen island, and Andrew picked his way through the wide selection of booze that he bought. After removing every single bottle and can from the bag, he settled on a Corona. Andrew reached into his pocket, pulled out a literal knife, and popped it open without any issue. He brought the bottle to his lips and took a sip, inspecting Neil's kitchen without particular interest.

If it wasn't for the fact that Andrew Minyard was standing in the middle of his kitchen, drinking beer that he bought, leaning his elbow on the countertop he would eat dinner on, Neil would be in the middle of a full blown stroke. On the way home he had time to "fanboy" (he still hated that word) about the initial interaction in his car, and to prepare himself for tonight. But no amount of time could have prepared himself for him to see Andrew lounging around on his couch like he owned the place. It was some parts aggravating, most parts astonishing. Never in his life would Neil have thought he would be seeing Andrew like this. No camera, no computer. Just in person drinking his beer.

Andrew glanced over at Neil. “What? Do you want some?”

He held up the bottle, teasingly. Neil let out a huff of a laugh, but all he could think of in that moment was ‘Oh my god, an indirect kiss.’ Christ, he was an idiot.

“Oh, no.”

Andrew took another sip. ”You have a problem.”

”What kind of problem?” Neil asked, genuinely curious. He had a lot of problems.

”A staring problem.”

”Think of it as payback for breaking into my house,” Neil replied with a shrug.

He flashed him a little wink and reached over to grab a bottle for himself, grabbing the bottle opener off the fridge door and opening it up. Andrew’s mouth tilted downward slightly into a frown, but he said nothing else after that. Another victory for Neil. He took a smug, self-satisfied sip.

“Are you going to wear that for tonight?” Andrew asked. 

Neil looked down at what he was wearing. All he had time to do before he got to fixing up his place was removing his makeup, and throwing on whatever clothes were on his floor. (He didn’t have time to do laundry that weekend.) So, he was currently dressed in some jean shorts and an orange PSU hoodie.

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” Neil asked. He thought he looked fine.

”Orange is atrocious, especially that shade.”

”Hey, orange happens to be my favourite colour!” He protested.

”Too bad, change.” Andrew replied, bluntly. 

“Into what?” 

Andrew gestured down to his own body for reference. He changed outfits from when Neil last saw, exchanging his black hoodie for a white t-shirt and a black bomber jacket. Neil had to force his eyes to not linger anywhere inappropriate as he took in Andrew’s ripped black skinny jeans and combat boots. [It was simple](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0162/2116/files/Mens_Street_Style_Looks_1.jpg?v=1485878463), but suited him far too well. Neil dragged his gaze back up to his face.

”Something that doesn’t scream ‘I’ve never been to a party before’,” Andrew said.

Neil sputtered. “What? How dare you- I’ve _been_ to parties,” he lied.

Andrew gave him a look that showed he didn’t quite believe him, but he didn’t comment further.

”I don’t even-,” Neil hesitated. “I don’t even know _how_ to dress, frankly. Let alone for something as big as this.”

”You make outfits for a living,” Andrew said, as if that fact could change anything.

”I _recreate_ them.” Neil explained. “The concept artists did the brunt work of designing the outfits, I just look at screenshots and make them in my size."

Andrew was silent for a moment, mulling over what he said. Then, he spoke the last words that Neil ever expected to come out of his mouth.

”Let me help you, then.”

* * *

Andrew had no idea what the fuck he was doing here.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. He was supposed to say no to Neil, then go back to the hotel, order some overpriced room service, and pass out after a bottle of wine or two.

But Andrew was as stupid as he was homosexual, so now he was helping Neil _fucking_ Josten choose an outfit for his own damn party, because the idiot apparently has the fashion sense of a deranged toddler.

When Andrew first entered his house (seriously, who the fuck leaves their front door unlocked in this economy?), he was surprised at how homely it was. Everything had a warm feeling to it. From the candid polaroids on the wall, to the bowl of fruit on the coffee table, and finally the university graduation certificate framed above the fireplace. (It was for Linguistics and Language Studies, which Andrew found interesting).

He hadn’t planned on staying for long, just to poke around at his stuff to see what kind of person he was, have a quick snack, then leave. But once he finished inspecting each individual photo and sat down on the couch for an apple, it had already been 10 minutes and Neil was walking through the front door.

To be fair, Neil was partially right. He was _planning_ on breaking in once he saw Neil’s car leave, but he ended up not having to, since the dumbass left the door completely unlocked. The man should be thankful it wasn’t some crazy fan that broke in, and just a slightly less crazy not at all fan.

Walking up the stairs with Neil's form leading the way felt like a fever dream. Never in his life would he have imagined himself making his way to _Neil Josten's_ bedroom, and to play Queer Eye with him of all things. If someone approached him later and asked, "Hey, Andrew. What the fuck were you thinking?" He wouldn't be able to give a valid response. So, he supposed this was some sort of weird karma for "breaking in" (he didn't _actually_ break in) and trying to form some sort of connection with this beautiful stranger, by invading his home and looking around at his belongings.

"Alright," Neil said as they approached a closed door at the end of the hall. "Uh, I didn't have time to clean up in there, so it's kind of messy..."

"I don't care," he responded, because he didn't. All Andrew could think about was what kind of decorations Neil would have in it.

Tentatively, Neil pushed the door open and flicked on the lights. The first thing Andrew thought when his eyes focused on the room was that it was more mundane that he expected. Grey walls, random posters of Nintendo games (alot of Zelda and Fire Emblem), simple white desk with a two monitor computer set-up, full bed with orange blankets and sheets. The room was a typical size for a master bedroom, with a door leading off to what Andrew assumed was the bathroom. 

Andrew took a step in, and immediately his foot hit something soft. With a glance down, he realized it was a spiky blonde wig. Looking around, the whole floor was littered with different articles of clothing and loose fabrics. It looked like if a tornado blew through a costume shop.

"Oh, shit!" Neil snatched the wig off the ground. "How about you just wait downstairs? You really don't have to do this."

"Just hurry up," Andrew cut him off. He didn't need Neil to ruin this by opening his stupidly beautiful mouth.

He stepped around the landmines of discarded clothing and sat down atop the bed. Another glance at the covers revealed a giant white fox-print embroidered on it. Andrew ran his fingers along it absentmindedly, feeling the texture and reveling in it.

"It's the logo for my university," Neil said. "Symbol for the foxes."

Andrew hummed in acknowledgement and turned to face him again. Neil gathered most of the clothing that was on the floor into his arms and stopped to stand in front of him, an expectant look on his face. Andrew raised and eyebrow at him, and with a sigh, reluctantly got up from his spot. Neil dropped the clothes onto the bed and let Andrew pick through it. 

"This is horrendous," Andrew commented, surveying the pile. He pulled out a strange green and blue ombre sweater and cringed.

"So I've been told," Neil sighed.

"Just awful." Andrew tossed another pair of jorts into the corner.

"Yep."

"Honestly terrible." He threw a miscellaneous sweater with so many geometric patterns, it looked like the 80's took a steaming shit all over it.

"I get the point now," Neil huffed.

He lifted a pair of bright orange short shorts, and when Neil saw them, he flushed the tiniest bit of pink.

”Do you, though?” Andrew asked, dully.

“Hey, they're good for running, leave me alone!” He crossed his arms over his chest, defensively.

Instead of responding, Andrew quickly sifted through the pile, and quickly picked something out for him. He threw the outfit at his face.

"Here, try this." He said, and before Neil could respond, he left the room.

Immediately, Andrew closed the door behind him and pressed his back against it. This was very _very_ dangerous. He took his phone from his pocket and sent a text to Nicky saying 'hurry the fuck up', to which he instantly got a response from his cousin that said 'allison is terrifying.' He didn't feel like pressing for more details, so Andrew decided to return to his abandoned beer on the kitchen counter and get a head start on everybody else. A few sips later, Andrew heard the sound of socked feet against hardwood descending the stairs and without even thinking, he looked up. 

It was something else entirely seeing Neil without any costumes, or makeup, or wigs on and [dressed like a normal person.](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/50/9d/54/509d54575905bd9e2def3cbc489933a7.jpg) The paint splattered oversized blue shirt was a good choice on Andrew's part, especially accompanied with the white turtleneck underneath to fill in the gaps. Andrew had been exposed to Neil's lean and muscular physique from a few of his past cosplays, so the black jeans he dug up from the pile hugged Neil's legs in the exact way he thought it would. The man looked like a walking piece of art, and he couldn't help but pat himself on the back at how well he did on bringing that out. Maybe _his_ secret talent was fashion.

Andrew felt his heart start to thump in the same strange way as before, and he hoped that Neil couldn't hear it from across the room. His mouth felt dry and thirsty, and Andrew took a sip to quench it. It didn't work. Jesus, was it getting hotter in there?

His eyes focused on Neil making his way towards him, and Andrew finally realized that he was talking to him.

"-again, I know this is super fucking weird since we just met and all, but really thank you for this." Neil said, standing in front of Andrew with this sincere expression on his face. "I'm completely useless in these sort of social gatherings."

Andrew had absolutely no clue what Neil was talking about, and just gave him a small glare in return, because that seemed like an appropriate response. He turned away, bringing the bottle to his lips and chugging away what remained. He was going to need many more of these.

"So..." Neil started, visibly awkward. "How was your day today?"

"I'm not going to 'small talk' with you," Andrew replied.

"Nevermind, then." He sighed in frustration, looking away.

Good, that's what Andrew wanted. Don't speak to him, don't look at him, don't get to know him. Just don't. If he keeps up like this, maybe they'll get through the night without any issue.

Moving past him, Andrew reached around to grab another bottle of beer and popped it open. He brought it to his lips and nearly drained half of it in a second, the numb beginnings of a buzz creeping it's way up.

“Maybe you should slow down, people haven’t even gotten here yet.” Neil said. 

His concern for him was unbearable. ”Exactly, I’m getting a head start. It'll be easier to deal with them if I'm already smashed.” He was probably already halfway there.

”I thought you liked Nicky and them,” Neil asked, furrowing his brow.

“Like is a strong word,” he said, dryly. “I tolerate him, along with everyone else. And that's including you, so don't think you're special because you're not.”

Neil winced at the comment. “He’s your family, though."

“Indeed, he is. Doesn't mean I like him.”

Andrew raised his hand as a mini toast and took another big gulp. He just needed to get shit faced fast, then maybe he’d be able to look at Neil without wanting to either 1. Punch him or 2. Make out with him.

“Fucking ungrateful...” Neil grumbled under his breath, shaking his head.

Andrew froze. That word was always said to him, every single stream and video 

“What did you say?” he asked, slowly turning towards him with an uneasy calm.

Neil was standing ten feet away from him, leaning against the island countertop, but Andrew could close that distance very easily if it came down to it. He was always ready to throw down.

”Nothing,” Neil said with a huff.

Andrew raised an eyebrow and set his beer down, taking a step forwards. “No, now I’m interested. _What did you say?_ ”

“Ungrateful," Neil said, louder and firmer this time. "I’ve always known that about you. To your fans, friends, and even your family apparently. You have so much more than I could ever hope for, but you’re so aloof about it. You’re ungrateful.”

Andrew chuckled. “And here I thought you were different from all those other assholes.”

”Are you kidding me?! What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He asked, incredulously.

”You don’t know who I am, or what I have. You don’t know what I feel, or what I think. Who the fuck are you to judge me, when you don’t even _know me.”_ Andrew said in a low snarl.

"Maybe I could, if you stopped acting like such a douche for just five seconds!"

"Says the one who's picking a fight, because he doesn't like the fact that this douche is more successful than him."

One second, Neil was around other side of the island, balling his fists in barely contained rage. The next, he was right in front of Andrew and slamming his body against the counter. His arms were placed on either side of him, preventing any escape.

”I call what I see, and what I see is that you don’t give a fuck about anyone around you. You’ve got all these people who care, and then act like a jackass. I thought that you were just exaggerating for cameras because of your image, but now I see that you’re just a dick that takes people for granted.” Neil spat out.

Andrew reached into his pocket and took his knife out, pressing the tip against the man's stomach. Neil spared a single glance downward, and looked back up to meet his eyes with a matched intensity.

”Get the fuck away from me,” Andrew warned in a low voice. 

Neil moved in closer, pressing himself closer to the blade, and leaning in an inch away from his face. Andrew could feel his warm breath against his mouth and the pounding beat of his heart.

“Make me.”

Andrew opened his mouth to reply when suddenly, the front door is being slammed open. Seemingly left unlocked due to Neil's dumbassery, an excited Nicky Hemmick strutted freely into the house with his streaming camera in hand pointed towards them.

"Alright chat, let's hope they didn't start without-!" Nicky started, but cut himself off when he finally took in the scene in front of him.

Andrew whipped his head towards Nicky and froze, feeling Neil go still against him as well. He looked at Neil, completely up against him, and then back at Nicky, imagining the angle he must be filming this at. Not just filming, but _live-streaming._ Most likely in front of thousands of people. Thousands of people who are already going batshit over the two of them. Now seeing them in a very compromising position.

"Well, shit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jokes on you guys, you thought this was going to be the party chapter. NOPE not yet. instead we get some ONE ON ONE ANDREIL CONTENT- ish. 
> 
> i mean what did y'all expect? we have person a: an asshole that uses insults and uncomfortable silences as a defense mechanism to not show feelings or let people in. and then we have person b: a dumbass that wants to get to know person a, but is frustrated by how much of a dick they are.
> 
> now take those two people and throw in some unresolved sexual tension and lots of anger. yeah. that's neil and andrew. so yeah, dont yell at me like "what, why is neil arguing with andrew about of the blue??" like bro, you would be pissed off too if the person you liked kept acting like a complete jackass, not only to you, but to their family and friends.
> 
> see y'all next sunday, where we deal with the absolute shitstorm to come.
> 
> follow me on [tumblr](http://arisushanti.tumblr.com/) and [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/arisushxnti/)!
> 
> i made an inspo playlist based off this fic, you can listen to it on spotify [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4edHc4k7Kd5EOqGGLxrDRZ?si=mr2d9FY8ShaqnAM0J72J1A)
> 
> if you like my writing, consider supporting me by donating to my [ko-fi page](http://ko-fi.com/arisushanti)!


	5. Honey Whiskey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we meet the rest of the youtuber gang. shenanigans ensue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title and general plot of the chapter based off of the song honey whiskey by nothing but thieves.
> 
> which is on my playlist for this fic :) that you should all listen to :) on spotify :) here :)
> 
> also for the twitch emotes, i put the actual name of the emote and linked what it looks like. for those who don't use twitch, people in chat use emotes often so the streamer can look at the chat and at a glance, know what their reactions are.

**Nicky Hemmick** is livestreaming IRL _"driving w/ the gang, come chat! <3"_

** STREAM CHAT  **

> _Welcome to the chat room!_
> 
> **marlbros:** wait WHAT
> 
> **nickythehammock:** [KappaPride ](https://img.pngio.com/kappapride-png-download-transparent-kappapride-png-images-for-kappapride-png-820_681.png) [KappaPride ](https://img.pngio.com/kappapride-png-download-transparent-kappapride-png-images-for-kappapride-png-820_681.png) [KappaPride](https://img.pngio.com/kappapride-png-download-transparent-kappapride-png-images-for-kappapride-png-820_681.png)
> 
> **louielouie:** is that andrew and neil???
> 
> **marlbros:** THIS CAN'T BE REAL
> 
> **prodbyrock:** damn bad timing nicky
> 
> **andreilstan103:** I KNEW I WASNT CRAZY! FUCK YOU NON-BELIEVERS!
> 
> **getschwifty:** KappaPride LMAO
> 
> **nickythehammock:** [PogChamp PogChamp](https://www.nicepng.com/png/detail/12-125453_pogchamp-biblethump-co-bedeutung-pogchamp-emote.png)
> 
> **emi_ly:** andrew is GETTING IT rn omg

Neil jumped away from Andrew, putting his hands up in the air as if he got caught robbing a bank. Nicky stood at the entryway, camera in hand pointed directly at them, frozen in shock.

"Shit, uh-" he stuttered, pointing the camera downwards and away from the two of then.

Andrew flicked his knife closed and shoved it back into his pocket, turning around towards Nicky. "What took you so long?"

Neil watched Andrew shove past him and walk towards Nicky calmly, seemingly unaffected by the current situation. For once, he was thankful for Andrew's cool and detached attitude. Hopefully people didn't notice how much he was sweating.

Nicky shook himself out of his shock quickly and professionally. "Sorry, Allison was doing her hair and there was a a lot of traffic," he said, looking warily between the two of them.

On cue, the woman herself walked through the door looking made up and perfect. Allison Reynolds was one of those YouTubers that intimidated Neil for a number of reasons, most of them being related to her godly talent for makeup. He has never met her in person, but seeing her standing in the foyer of his house, he can confirm that she was as beautiful in person as she was in her videos.

Behind her, Renee Walker entered. Neil has never seen any of her videos, but he knew about her through off-hand comments made by Andrew about her while he streamed. The two were friends since university, but have yet to appear on each other's channels yet. For a while, there was a tiny rumour going around a year ago that they were dating, but it was quickly dismissed once Renee came out as lesbian shortly after.

"Hello, Andrew." Allison said, sounding incredibly reluctant to be speaking to him. She stopped beside where Nicky stood, who was still trying to compose himself, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Allison," Andrew greeted in a similar tone. Though, it was a bit hard to tell if he was also grudging towards Allison, given that his default speaking voice was just like that.

Renee peaked out from behind Allison. "Hey!" she waved to Andrew.

Andrew waved back, giving a small nod in acknowledgement. He approached the three of them and they began talking with each other in the way that long-time friends did, where if you were to listen in, you would be left a little lost and largely left out. Neil definitely felt like the latter. 

"Hey, Neil! Come here!" Nicky smiled at him.

Nicky made his way over, and handed the streaming camera and phone with the stream chat on it over to Andrew, who took it easily and began scrolling through the chat. Nicky inspected Neil, smiling brightly.

"You are as sexy on screen as you are in person!" He exclaimed. "Nice outfit, really shows off your ass."

"Oh, thanks?" Neil responded, hesitantly. Did this count as getting hit on or was he just being nice? It was hard to tell, Nicky always looked so bright and radiant, it could put the damn sun to shame.

He glanced over at Andrew, who's grip on the camera was like a vice. Andrew was giving a pointed glare at Nicky, while the latter didn't seem to notice at all. Neil had no idea what the man did to deserve the whole being bored into the back of his head, but he prayed that Nicky wouldn't catch fire in the process.

"Nicky..." Andrew began, his tone low in warning.

Before Nicky could respond, or maybe run away, a tall figure came stumbling through the threshold.

"Can somebody fucking help me with this?" Kevin groaned, his arms adorned with bags of booze, very similar to how Neil looked half an hour ago.

Everybody else pointedly ignored him and began to conveniently wander the house, so with a sigh Neil went over to relieve Kevin of some of the weight. When he approached, he received a simple nod of thanks.

"You're Neil, I presume?" Kevin asked, once he could stand at his full height. (Which was unfortunately almost a foot taller than Neil was).

"Yes. Welcome to my home, I guess." Neil responded in turn, hoping that he was able to keep the sarcasm he was feeling hidden from him.

"It's cozy," he commented plainly. Cozy was code for small in LA talk.

"Thank you," Neil responded, trying to sound genuine. 

To avoid further conversation, he went to the kitchen to drop off the bags that Nicky bought next to the bags that he bought himself. The rest of the gang had settled on the couches in the living room, each nursing a bottle of beer. Neil pretended like he wasn't watching Andrew the entire short walk there, and Andrew pretended he didn't exist. At least they could agree on something, indirectly or not.

Neil took the bags that Kevin handed off to him and settled them on the counter. When he turned, Nicky was stood next to him and in very close proximity.

"Uh, hi?" Neil said, leaning away.

Nicky glanced back towards the living room to make sure they were out of earshot, before whispering. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on! If I hadn't walked in, I'm pretty sure you guys would be banging on the counter by now," he whisper shouted.

Neil shook his head. "Actually, I think one of us would be bleeding out on the floor instead."

"What?!" Nicky asked incredulously.

"Apparently he carries a knife on him," Neil said in lieu of an explanation.

Nicky put his face in his hands and groaned. "Neil, _please_ don't pick a fight with Andrew!"

"He started it," Neil huffed. 

"Oh my god." Nicky shook his head. "You know I was _streaming_ just then, right? Which means 3,000-ish people saw you pinning my cousin against your kitchen counter!"

Neil cringed.

"l'll delete the VOD if you want, but I doubt it'll do anything since somebody probably clipped it already and posted it." Nicky sighed. "Just warning you, I've been through that 'Andreil' tag and let me just say it's wild."

That sounded like alot coming from Nicky, so Neil was sufficiently warned. He gave a slow nod.

"Alright..." Neil sighed. "Thank you for helping me out with this, though."

Nicky's worried look melted into another smile and he slung his arm around Neil's shoulder. "Anytime! Now, enough business, we need to get you a drink!"

* * *

Andrew was right about everything. This was a terrible idea.

The party was in full swing at this point, and way too many people showed up given the size of the house. When Andrew went out for a smoke, he counted at least 20 people standing in the driveway having conversations. It was safe to say that nothing about this party was planned at all.

Thankfully, he was roughly six beers in and quite drunk, which made dealing with the whole ordeal much easier. And by ordeal, he literally just meant Neil Josten. 

That man could not keep his eyes to himself. Everywhere Andrew went those blue eyes followed. It was beginning to piss him off. And on top of that, Nicky couldn't resist the temptation of recording every single facet of his life, which included Andrew, and by extension Andrew's own actions. Since recently he's had a streak of making stupid decisions, most of those actions were in turn very stupid. Now, thousands of people would get to see stupid Neil all up against his stupid self being stupid.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Andrew took a big swig of his drink, surveying the crowd of people from his vantage point on the second floor. If it weren't for the fact that he was surrounded by strangers, he would be drinking straight out of a whiskey bottle. Not that he particularly cared what people thought of him, he just didn't want to get caught on camera doing something stupid, since he was surrounded by streamers and YouTubers who's entire lives revolved around cameras.

"Having fun?" a familiar voice asked, sidling up beside him. He didn't need to look to know who it was.

"No," he answered. "But you knew that already before coming over here."

Renee let out a huff of a laugh. "Maybe so."

"I thought you'd be with Allison."

"She wanted to dance, so I decided to slip away for a minute." Renee pointed towards the small circle of people in the middle of the living room. 

People had decided to do some furniture rearranging and moved the couches and coffee table aside, making space for an impromptu dance floor. Andrew wished he was there to witness the many complaints from Neil that followed the re-decorating. Somewhere along the way, someone hijacked the internal Bluetooth speaker system within the house and started blasting generic Top 40 music.

In the center of the dance circle stood Allison and Nicky, who were tastefully twerking against each other. Dozens of cameras were pointed at them, no doubt people wanting to film the notorious duo and use them as clickbait in their next vlog. He had to admit he was somewhat impressed by how opportunistic YouTubers were. They jumped at the chance for content, even if it meant getting in the middle of a sweaty dance floor to do it.

"I can see why you didn't want to join," Andrew commented.

"Dancing has never been my thing." She shrugged.

He nodded in agreement, turning away from the horrendous display below. Renee lifted her beer bottle towards him in a toast.

"To refusing to dance."

Andrew hesitated for a moment before clinking his glass against hers. "To refusing to dance."

They both took a hearty sip.

"So, am I allowed to ask?" she inquired, a curious expression on her face.

Andrew didn't need to guess at what she was referring to. "Go ahead."

"What did he do?" she asked. 

He liked how she assumed it was _Neil_ who did something, and not Andrew. That was always a first.

"He called me an ungrateful douche, and I called him a jealous hypocrite. Then he got mad and I fought back." He explained simply. 

Renee hummed, pondering what to say for a moment. "I find it interesting that you cared enough in the first place to even retaliate."

Andrew turned to her, taken aback by her words. "What?"

"Well, I just know you get those sort of comments a lot."

He raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"So, you never care. But when Neil brings it up..." She trailed on, letting Andrew fill in the blanks for himself.

Andrew huffed, gripping his glass a little tighter. "I _don't_ care. Why is everyone trying to get me to admit that Josten has done something magical to my supposedly black heart."

"Has he?"

"No."

"Alright then." She nodded, a smile dancing on her lips.

Andrew's mouth pitched downward into a frown. "Don't say things like that."

"Like what?" she asked, innocently.

"Like you know something that I don't."

"Why, I have no idea what you're talking about." Renee chuckled, giving him a gentle smile. 

From the bottom floor, Allison glanced up at them and waved. "Baby, come here! Party with me!"

Renee's cheeks flushed the tiniest bit of pink. Andrew looked at her, watching the way she waved back and promised to be there in a moment. He wondered what the things she was feeling felt like. Guess he'll never know for himself.

"I think that's my cue to go down. I'll talk to you later?" Renee tilted her head to the side, inspecting him to make sure he was okay.

Andrew shrugged noncommittally and Renee took that as permission (not that she needed his permission to leave), and went down the stairs wordlessly. He downed the rest of his drink and set the empty glass on the floor, feeling too lazy to go down and put it away properly.

He inspected the crowd below, watching the way everyone would interact and move. People watching was something he'd do often, especially when it came to parties like these. It was always curious how much you could tell about the inner relationships by simply observing.

Like how it was clear that Renee and Allison were an item, but haven't quite got to talking about it with each other, thus the awkward back and forth Andrew could see between them. Or, how Nicky kept glancing at his phone every so often, expecting a call or a text from what he assumed to be Erik, his boyfriend. Andrew absorbed all of the information below, from the subtle move of a hand to the micro-expression of someone's face. 

The only person he has yet to completely take in was the bothersome host of this party, that seemed to have slipped away from the festivities below. His fingers twitched, and Andrew could feel the impulse in him take over. Quietly, he made his way down the hall to one of the rooms where he knew had a balcony on it. He didn't need to check his pocket, he could feel the small weight of his nearly finished cigarette pack in there.

He slipped into the room, closing the door soundlessly behind him. Curiously, the smell of tobacco was already present in the room, and when he looked up, a familiar figure was leaning against the balcony rails.

_Of course._

Andrew stepped through the sliding glass door, and Neil whipped around. For a moment, his eyes flashed with fear like he was ready to run, then it settled when he saw that it was just Andrew. Neil didn't say a word as Andrew walked to the complete opposite end of the balcony and lit up a cigarette. He inhaled deeply, feeling his body relax and his fingers still.

For a few, wonderful moments the two didn't say a word. Maybe this dumbass finally got the memo.

"I don't bite," Neil said a few drags later, gesturing to the large space between them with his free hand.

That's what he got for giving this guy a smidgen of credit.

"I do," Andrew replied.

Neil raised an eyebrow. "So, you're doing it to protect me?"

Andrew glared into the distance. "Don't get cocky."

A beat of silence.

"Listen, about before-," Neil began.

Andrew finally turned towards him and closed the distance so they were only a foot apart. He reached up and poked a finger in his direction.

"Let's get one thing straight. I don't need, nor do I want your apologies. So you can keep them to yourself and consider everything resolved." After a moment, he added. "You weren't wrong, and I don't care."

Neil shook his head."I know that you do care about your fans, even if you don't show it. Like today, you went through that entire meet and greet despite those girls in the beginning, which you probably wouldn't have done if you didn't want to."

"Did you hear a word I just said?"

Neil raised his hands up. "I'm not apologizing, since you said you don't want me to. I'm just saying that I was wrong."

Andrew considered him for a moment. "You're still a hypocrite, though."

"I know." Neil chuckled.

"And that was still an apology, so try better next time."

"Alright, alright, message received." Neil met Andrew's glare with a soft smile.

"Good." Andrew turned away again, taking a long drag and avoiding the look in Neil's eyes. 

"Though, that sounded a bit like forgiveness from your end."

"Shut up."

"I don't think I know how to do that."

"Learn to shut up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let's pretend this isn't months later, and just be glad a chapter has appeared out of nowhere.
> 
> ALSO y'all should follow me on [tumblr](http://arisushanti.tumblr.com/) because 1. you can tell me how much i suck and 2. i'm an expert memer so you can expect alot of aftg shitposts
> 
> i made an inspo playlist based off this fic, you can listen to it on spotify [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4edHc4k7Kd5EOqGGLxrDRZ?si=mr2d9FY8ShaqnAM0J72J1A)
> 
> if you like my writing, consider supporting me by donating to my [ko-fi page](http://ko-fi.com/arisushanti)!


	6. Down in the DM's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> andrew and neil have made up and kinda don't despise each other. what happens next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i fucking love using my extensive knowledge of ship/fan/stan culture in this fic, its hilarious to me. also might have went overboard with all the social media posts in this chapter but whatever, its fun to do and it looks cool.

**Nicky Hemmick** @nickyhemmick

rt if you think @neiljostenplays should host more parties

> **Neil Josten** @neiljostenplays  
> (replying to @nickyhemmick)
> 
> I'd retweet, except you didn't help clean up afterwards
> 
> **Nicky Hemmick** @nickyhemmick  
> (replying to @neiljostenplays)
> 
> DD: srry bb ily tho
> 
> **andrew's josten** @andrewsjosten  
> (replying to @neiljostenplays)
> 
> i refuse to believe this wasn't something saucy, neil tell us the truth!!
> 
> _[Picture: A blurry and zoomed in screencap from Nicky's stream where Neil has Andrew pressed up against the counter, the two barely an inch_ _apart]_

**alice says andreil rights** @andreiliscanonking

andreil twt, how are we feeling after nicky's stream? because im DYING asukfgaeuig

**rose <3 ** @jostensass

@nickyhemmick is giving us that good andreil content therefore he is the captain of this ship

**camryn** @editsbycam

I made a compilation of every #Andreil interaction to date! (clips from Nicky's and Andrew's stream)

_[Video: 2 minutes and 24 seconds of andrew minyard and neil josten interacting | ANDREIL]_

* * *

All things considered, the party went pretty well. While cleaning up the morning after, he was nervous about how well it went since all he remembered was passing out on his bed at 2am, and then waking up to everybody gone and his house a complete wreck. But, when he checked his twitter, he had a flood of messages from other streamers saying that they had fun, which helped reassure him of the success. Sure, he was left picking up beer cans for an hour straight, but it felt worth it in the end.

At this point it's been a week since the party, and the dreaded stream incident. On one hand, ever since that talk on the balcony with Andrew, the man finally followed him back on social media and they started to message each other. But on the other hand his mentions have been blowing up like crazy over the clip, and no matter how many reasonable excuses he gave, the fans would not believe him. 

His phone dinged with an Instagram notification.

**ajminyard** sent a message.

He looked at his phone and smiled. Things have felt like such a rollercoaster lately. In the past few weeks his follower count has skyrocketed from all of the exposure thanks to 'andreil', and now Andrew Minyard was his friend. Well, friend might have been a strong word at this point, but they weren't strangers anymore. He's learned alot about Andrew in the short amount of time they've been talking.

First, Andrew has two cats named Sir Fat Cat McCatterson (Sir) and King Fluffkins (King). The names were utterly ridiculous, and Andrew was quick to explain the naming process behind it, but Neil couldn't help but think that he secretly liked it. Second, they had fairly similar music tastes. Neil liked alot of indie music, and Andrew liked a whole slew of genres, specifically indie rock. This caused a few debates on certain artist's discographies and best songs, but other than that there was always an overlap in their tastes. Third, Andrew was (surprisingly or not) really funny. You would think that someone who lived his entire life without any expression would be lifeless husk, but the man had a sense of humour. The amount of times he'd respond in the driest and most sarcastic way possible that had Neil gasping for breath was immeasurable.

Neil opened up his DM's to check what Andrew sent.

**ajminyard**

bastard cat

Neil chuckled and saved the picture to his cat folder that was slowly just becoming a Sir and King folder. Ever since Neil expressed his envy for the two cats, Andrew has been not-so-subtly sending him daily pictures of them in whatever place he'd find them (though he'd never admit it). He grinned, typing out a reply.

**neiljostenplays**  
He's innocent

 **ajminyard**  
his fur's going to get on my pillow

i am putting him up for adoption

 **neiljostenplays**  
I'll relieve you of your duty

Neil smiled at his phone, setting it down on his worktable and taking a seat at it. On top of it was a half styled wig that he was currently working on, the costume for it laying on his bed, completed. He couldn't let Andrew's cute cats (and his hot self in general) distract him from his projects. He grabbed the hairspray and brush that lay abandoned on the table. It was time to get to work.

* * *

You would think after seeing Neil the amount of times that Andrew had, he would be used to his general attractive visage. That wasn't the case. There was something about his stupid face that evoked such a visceral reaction in him, that words couldn't even begin to describe it. Well, there was one word that could be used, but Andrew refused to admit it out loud.

> **neiljostenplays**
> 
> Liked by **ajminyard** and **12,369 others**
> 
> **neiljostenplays** I'm going to be streaming my playthrough of the FFVII Remake today at 4:00pm PST as Cloud. Join and say hi!
> 
> _View all 9,014 comments_
> 
> **hemmick_nicky** bicepbicepbicep
> 
> **allisonreynolds** ur doing so great, sweetie <3
> 
> **mattboyyyd** That's my best friend!!

Against his better nature, Andrew decided to start talking to the bastard in hopes that he'd realize how much of a dick he actually was, and lose the pestering feeling in his chest whenever he saw him. But unfortunately, Neil was exactly what people said about him. He was charming.

Talking to Neil felt like sparring with an equally matched opponent. Every comment, every retort, every insult that Andrew would throw at him, Neil would counter back with something of his own. No matter how hard he tried to drive him into a corner, Neil fought back with that all too clever mouth of his, leaving Andrew more stuck than he had been in the first place. They talked about anything, from daily life to weapon of choice in a zombie apocalypse (excluding guns, because that was a cheap answer) to even the likelihood of reincarnation (they're both non-religious, but agree that it was a pleasant thought). He was a good listener which was important, but also provided for good conversation. It was easy, talking to Neil, and it made him want to tell Neil things that he's only ever told Bee or Renee. It was dangerous. This was dangerous. 

And all of this was just over the span of one fucking week.

Andrew sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. He needed a smoke- no, a drink. Multiple drinks. All the drinks. Every god damn drink in existence to be able to cope with the fact that he might have feelings now, specifically for one stupid red-head. 

His alarm on his phone sounded, loud and blaring in his ear. Annoyed, he turned it off, already knowing what it was for. He glanced at his notifications, seeing Neil's message at the top that he hadn't bothered to open up, lest he accidentally fall even deeper into this hole he's dug himself in. For a moment, he stared at it, considering all the options he had.

It was a Wednesday, meaning he had his late night drinking stream today. He planned on playing Minecraft again, since his viewers seemed to enjoy it and it was a simple enough concept to entertain with.

He checked the time. _9:01pm_. Neil probably ended his own stream around an hour ago. It was possible...

"Fuck it," he said aloud, grabbing his phone and opening up his messages.

* * *

 **MinyardGamesLive** is livestreaming Minecraft _"drinking + hardcore with neil josten"_

**STREAM CHAT**

> _Welcome to the chat room!_
> 
> **andreilstan103:** oh my god ITS HAPPENING
> 
> **emi_ly** **:** MOM GET THE CAMERA
> 
> **poggywoggy:** [PogChamp PogChamp PogChamp](https://www.nicepng.com/png/detail/12-125453_pogchamp-biblethump-co-bedeutung-pogchamp-emote.png)
> 
> **minyardfan99:** ANDREIL
> 
> **guavagoat:**[KreyGasm](https://www.nicepng.com/png/detail/12-125453_pogchamp-biblethump-co-bedeutung-pogchamp-emote.png) neil josten [KreyGasm](https://www.nicepng.com/png/detail/12-125453_pogchamp-biblethump-co-bedeutung-pogchamp-emote.png)
> 
> **jinnan** :<3 <3
> 
> _**asthepoetssay** _ _just wasted a Tier 1 Sub!_
> 
> _guaranteed this is going to be the death of me aksfgsaifg_
> 
> **perpetualduck** **:** im gonna pass out
> 
> **minyardfan99:** IM SO FUCKING HAPPY RN
> 
> **sealthezealot:** AAAAHHHHHH

Andrew watched the flood of people come in as his viewer count skyrocketed to nearly an all time high. On his other monitor he had discord open and was sitting in a call by himself, feeling slightly restless as he waited for the man himself to show up.

"Hello everyone," he said, and was greeted with hundreds of hello's and waving emotes.

Andrew squinted at the screen, barely able to keep up. "Jesus, 19,000 is alot of people. Slow the fuck down, you guys."

In his headset, he heard the familiar tone coming from discord of someone joining the call. He felt himself stiffen up.

 _"Hey, Andrew."_ Neil spoke. The crowd went wild.

> **perpetualduck:** ITS NOT A PRANK
> 
> **plusultraa:** OMGOMGOMG
> 
> **prodbyrock:** PogChamp PogChamp
> 
> **astronaughty:** wait thats actually neil

"Hi, one second the people are fucking nuts." He forced his voice to sound calm. "Mods, put the chat in slow mode."

Instantly, the scroll of text slowed with the message showing up in the chatroom that they can send messages every 120 seconds. Andrew leaned back in his seat, finally able to process the things on his screen. He spent the next few minutes acknowledging the surplus of subs and new viewers, before turning his attention back to Neil.

"Okay, let's go." He said, then added. "You better have a drink with you."

 _"I know the rules, don't worry."_ Neil said. _"I invited you to my Minecraft Realm, so if you accept it then we can start."_

Andrew blinked. "What the fuck's a realm?"

Neil sighed through the call, and Andrew could practically hear him shaking his head. _"This is going to be terrible"_

* * *

It turns out that Neil was much better at this than he was. In just an hour Andrew had taken three shots, while Neil, infuriatingly, only had one. This lead to Andrew taking it upon himself to find increasingly creative ways to kill him so that he'd have take a shot. Some of those ways included (but were not limited to) setting him on fire, trapping him in a cave filled with monsters, and pouring a bucket of lava over his head while he was crafting.

 _"How can you kill me so well, but still can't keep your inventory sorted?"_ Neil whined, after Andrew had just finished punching him off a cliff to his doom.

He snorted. "Killing is my specialty."

_"Can you make building your new specialty?"_

"No."

> **minyardfan99:** lololol
> 
> **newlyrevived:** this is the funniest shit ever
> 
> **luckilucky:** poor neil :'(
> 
> **eastwarden:** y'all are so fucking cute omfg

To his surprise, he was actually enjoying himself. Andrew couldn't remember the last time he had fun while streaming, it was always just a job to him.

 _"I'm gonna restart the world again, gimme a sec."_ Neil said, voice slightly slurred.

Andrew hummed, leaning back in his seat. He felt relaxed, like sitting on a cloud blowing through the breeze. This was okay. He felt okay. He glanced at the chat, but every word he tried to read became a blurred mess. That was fine, he didn't really give a shit about what they were saying anyways.

 _"Y'know, I don't really like to drink."_ Neil blurted out. Andrew had figured that out for himself already from last time. For the party Neil bought all this alcohol, but only drank the one beer he opened with Andrew in the beginning. Any other time someone offered him another, he'd politely decline, giving the excuse that he was on a diet because of his profession. But Andrew could tell it ran a little deeper than that.

"Then why are you doing it?" Andrew asked, his words blending together as well, despite his best efforts to appear sober.

 _"I thought it'd be okay if it was with you."_ His voice went softer, his tone sincere. Andrew wanted to see the face he was making. He wanted to cup it between his hands and memorize every feature of it.

"Oh, really now?" Andrew raised an eyebrow, the side of his mouth unconsciously curling up into a half-smirk.

 _"Yep."_ Neil said, popping the 'p'.

"Do you regret it?" 

_"Nope."_

Andrew chuckled then, soft and genuine. He couldn't feel his face, he hadn't been able to feel it for the past thirty minutes. What kind of expression was he making right now? It was hard to tell. He brought his hands to his mouth, and felt the small pull of the corners. Confused, he looked to his second monitor where OBS was opened on it to check. Just as he thought, the screen reflected back the barely visible smile on his face, a hand attempting to cover it up to no avail. He could see the chat was going crazy now, the words flying past, too fast for Andrew's drunk brain to process it all.

Andrew snorted at himself. _Fuck. He was so drunk._ How did he let himself get to this point? He was smiling (or the closest he could get to smiling) and laughing (again, the closest it could be for him), and miraculously he didn't care at all. He didn't give a single fuck that thousands of people were watching him, they didn't matter anymore. It didn't matter that he wasn't supposed to show any emotions, he already got past that hurdle through therapy. It didn't matter that when he woke up the next morning, there would be another hundred compilation videos of him and Neil. He couldn't care less. They could do whatever the fuck they wanted, because in the end it wouldn't change a single thing. 

He was his own self. Neil was his own self. They were their own selves, and no amount of fangirls could change or influence what will happen.

What _will_ happen? What was he thinking? Fuck, he really was drunk.

 _"Andrew?"_ Neil asked. 

"What?" he shook himself out of his haze.

_"I've been calling your name and you weren't responding. I thought you passed out or something."_

"I just might," he replied, glancing over at his already empty bottle of vodka.

_"Oh. Should we end then?"_

Andrew checked the time on his computer and saw that it was nearly past midnight. "Yeah, probably. Okay, that's gonna be it for tonight, because as you all can see we are both incredibly fucked."

A string of [BibleThump's](https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.689412037.2947/flat,750x,075,f-pad,750x1000,f8f8f8.u4.jpg) went by, and he rolled his eyes. "Say bye to the stream, Neil."

 _"Bye bye, everyone!"_ he said in a silly, (and surprisingly accurate) Kermit the Frog voice.

"What the fuck was that?" Andrew asked, trying _so_ hard not to make a face.

_"Me saying bye."_

"Jesus, you're ridiculous. See you, guys." He waved to the camera and clicked the 'end stream' button on his computer.

With a sigh, he slumped back into his chair. His limbs were tingling, and his head felt heavy. He needed to go to bed.

 _"You should probably go to sleep,"_ Neil said, reading his mind.

Andrew scoffed. "As if you're one to talk, Kermit."

_"Hey, I'm passing out after this too. I'm just making sure you do it in your bed."_

"Whatever you say." He rolled his eyes.

Neil is silent for a minute, which makes Andrew think he already left but forgot to leave the call, when he said. _"I wasn't kidding, by the way."_

"Huh?"

 _"About the drinking thing."_ Andrew heard the squeaking of a chair as he imagined Neil leaning back in it. _"I don't like how it makes you say things you wouldn't normally say, or do things you wouldn't normally do. Almost like you-"_

"Lose control," Andrew finished for him.

 _"Yeah, lose control. I don't like losing control."_ Neil slurred. _"I don't want to be like him. Like, just losing yourself to this kind of shit and become a different person, that all of a sudden think it's okay to hit your kid."_

He hummed in understanding and closed his eyes, just listening to Neil talk.

 _"I mean, it's not like it was 100% the alcohol. He was a shitty husband, and an even shittier dad. I'm glad he's in jail now, good riddance."_ Neil hiccuped. _"I just-."_

He paused, then finished. _"He didn't have to take her away from me like that, y'know?"_

Andrew stilled at the implications, that all too familiar feeling rising in his chest. Neil seemed to finally process his own words as well, and began to stutter.

 _"That was stupid to say, you don't want to hear that kind of stuff. I don't know why it just came out, I'm sorry-"_ he started, but Andrew cut him off.

"Hey, stop that. I said I didn't need your apologies. That includes now." Andrew said, but it held no malice from before.

 _"Right... Right, okay."_ Andrew heard shuffling from his side of the line. _"I think I'm gonna go to sleep now."_

"Good idea," Andrew agreed. "You're really fucking drunk."

_"So are you!"_

"I never said I wasn't." To emphasize his point, he burped.

Neil giggled, the gentle sound heavenly and warm to his ears. _"Whatever, whatever..."_

"Goodnight, Neil." Andrew said, quietly.

_"Night, 'Drew."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me? writing something that's fluffy? unheard of. (minus the sad little neil backstory explanation, but whatever it was still sweet at the end)
> 
> yes, the word that andrew was thinking of was 'horny'. and yes, he intentionally made the title of his stream 'hardcore with neil josten' because i mean come on, thats funny.
> 
> also i am going to start using regular commenters usernames as usernames for the fic! so if you want to be ultra uber famous, leave a comment <3
> 
> follow me on [tumblr](http://arisushanti.tumblr.com/) and tell me how much this sucks or something!
> 
> i made an inspo playlist based off this fic, you can listen to it on spotify [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4edHc4k7Kd5EOqGGLxrDRZ?si=mr2d9FY8ShaqnAM0J72J1A)
> 
> if you like my writing, consider supporting me by donating to my [ko-fi page](http://ko-fi.com/arisushanti)!


	7. Best Friend, Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they are trying their hardest, aren't they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> general mood of the chapter inspired by best friend by rex orange country (the lighthearted and fluffy feel of it reflects EXACTLY whats in here), which you can find on my amazing spotify playlist for this fic :)) link will be in the end notes

**MinyardGames** posted a new video _'Stream Highlights #49 (ft. Neil Josten)_ _'_

_Description:_

highlights of this week's streams with an appearance of a stupid red-head at the end.

Follow me on all my shit or else.

Twitter: @andrewminyard  
Instagram: @ajminyard  
Twitch: @MinyardGamesLive

no, i don't have a snapchat, do not fucking ask me to make one.

10,798 Comments

> _Pinned by MinyardGames  
> _ **djhedy** _30_ _minutes ago_
> 
> Soooooo, does this mean we're going to be seeing more of Neil?
> 
> **MinyardGames** _10 minutes ago_
> 
> djhedy maybe
> 
> **Kathrine Bjerg** _1 hour ago_
> 
> now THIS is content
> 
> **Lucas Pynch** _1 hour ago_
> 
> 4:38 Neil: Why do you keep dying so much? *gets set on fire by Andrew* Okay first of all, fuck you.
> 
> I'M DYING YOU BOTH HAVE SUCH GOOD CHEMISTRY (not in a ship way, but if yall actually got together i wouldnt be pressed)

**NeilJostenPlays** posted a new video _'Drunk Minecraft Hardcore! (w/ Andrew Minyard)_

_ Description: _

Video proof that Andrew is a sore loser who can't handle me being better at video games than him (aka. My death perspective).

Follow me on all my other social media @NeilJostenPlays for life stuff and cosplay pictures.

10,492 Comments

> _Pinned by NeilJostenPlays  
> _ **MinyardGames** _1 hour ago_
> 
> how does it feel to spread propaganda to your viewers?
> 
> **NeilJostenPlays** _1 hour ago_
> 
> MinyardGames Pretty good
> 
> **Foster These People** _30 minutes ago_
> 
> Andrew killed Neil a total of 5 times, and honestly if that ain't love, I don't know what is.
> 
> **cleopatras** _30 minutes ago_
> 
> This is it. This is the best video on the internet. Everybody else can go home now.

* * *

It was safe to say that the collab was a resounding success.

In all honesty, Neil was surprised that he didn't have to approach Andrew first, and that he ended up on the other end of his attempt at a disinterested offer. It was exhilarating and amazing, and every other word for exhilarating and amazing that Neil could think of. But it's not like he was 'fanboying' or anything. Though, there _may_ have been a ten minute interlude somewhere before the stream started, where he went outside and ran through the streets yelling in pure bliss. (But he would never admit that to anyone, _especially_ to Andrew)

Those first few words that Andrew said to him in the call - with his rough, baritone voice speaking directly into his ears, Neil thought he was going to faint. The whole thing was ridiculous, his reaction _and_ the stream itself. But he had a blast nonetheless, and in the end got some content out of it too. Win-win situation.

Neil checked with Andrew afterwards, and was surprised to find that that small four hour window was the only time their schedules aligned. They were frankly very lucky they managed to squeeze the stream in in such an impromptu way.

The next two weeks went by in a blur, both of their schedules too jam-packed to have another joint stream together. Neil was busy preparing cosplays for two back-to-back conventions, and Andrew was pre-occupied with practicing for his Exy Twitch Rivals Tournament.

"I thought you didn't want to join an e-sports team," Neil had pointed out one night while they Face-Timed. That has also become another routine of theirs, calling each other at night after Andrew finished streaming and Neil finished recording his videos for the week.

 _"I don't,"_ Andrew said. _"Twitch Rivals is just a tournament for streamers. It's a one time thing._ _"_

"And you're competing in it this year."

_"Yes."_

"On Kevin Day's team."

_"Congratulations, your memory works."_

Neil turned the cosplay he was currently working on over so he could sew the other side. "I thought you hated Kevin."

Andrew shrugged. _"His begging was so pathetic that I took pity on him."_

"And you say _I'm_ the hypocrite." Neil scoffed.

 _"You are,_ " he agreed. 

"Whatever you say." Neil said, finishing off the sewing on the collar.

Andrew was silent for a minute, just watching Neil through the screen. Curiously, Neil looked up, tilting his head to the side.

"What?"

 _"Do you ever stop?"_ Andrew gestured to his general space, which was covered in random fabrics and materials for his costumes.

Neil flushed red as he looked around the room, embarrassed that he forgot to clean up. "This is my job, Andrew."

 _"Whatever you say,"_ he retorted, mocking Neil's previous words. _"Junkie."_

Neil raised an eyebrow at him. "Junkie?"

_"Yes, junkie. That's who you are now. Junkie."_

"I didn't realize we were at the pet-name stage." Neil said, looking up at the camera innocently, the side of his mouth curling up in the crooked smile that he knew Andrew hated.

Andrew's eyebrow quirked up, his face remaining still. _"It's 2:00am, I'm hanging up now."_

"Yeah, yeah, alright." Neil chuckled. "Bye, Andrew."

 _"Bye."_

The call ended with a beep, the call duration reading almost 4 hours. Neil blinked at it, rubbing his eyes and checking again to see if he was reading the time right. He hadn't even realized they'd been talking for so long, but he was more surprised over the fact that he managed to keep up steady conversation for that long. Sure, he did it on Andrew's stream and when he recorded his side of the gameplay, but that was different because he was working then. There was a difference between putting on a show for thousands, and having a genuine chat with someone. 

Especially given the identity of this certain someone.

He's said it once and he will say it a million times afterwards. Neil had no idea how his life got to this point. If someone told him a year ago- hell, even a few months ago- that he would be talking with the ever stoic and untouchable Andrew Minyard for hours on end every day, he'd laugh in their face. Now, that reality seemed a bit more... _Real._

Yet, it was approaching nearly a month since they last saw each other in person. Sure, they lived two hours away, but that distance was manageable for two adults with cars. At least for a weekend every so often, like every other week. Or maybe once a month.

Neil shook his head. It's not like they were boyfriends or anything, what was with him and thinking weird shit? They didn't owe it to each other to hang out in person. They didn't really owe each other anything.

He sighed. Even so, Neil couldn't help but feel a bit restless. Maybe he'd find an excuse to visit L.A. soon...

* * *

 _"Point C has been trapped, rotating to D-Side."_ Jean said through the call, the clack of his keyboard coming in as he spoke.

 _"I got D already,"_ Alvarez responded. _"Check the Neutral on your end and see if anyone's protecting it."_

 _"Got it."_ Andrew saw Jean nod in his seat, a few feet away from his own setup provided by Twitch.

 _"Moving towards B,"_ Jeremy said.

 _"Okay. Andrew do you have access to those camera's I bugged yet?"_ Kevin asked.

Without a word Andrew pressed a key on his keyboard, and an animation of his character pulling out a tablet played before the map came up. His eyes darted around the screen, taking in every bit of information as quickly as possible. He looked at the score on the top right of his screen. 9 - 12, they were losing. Blue dots with his teammates usernames blinked on screen, moving in the direction they were going on the map. Kevin and Jeremy were deep in enemy territory, making their way towards Point B that was highlighted in a bright red, signalling the enemy had taken it.

Clicking on the camera icon at the bottom left, the map changed from showing his teammates positions, to the camera positions. He checked to make sure the ones on their side of the map were blue, before looking over at the enemy's side. Just in time, the progress bar below one of the enemy's cameras filled up, and the bright red turned into striking blue. In an instant, he clicked on it and the screen changed to a grainy camera feed. There was one Liner on the point, in the process of setting up a trap at one of the two entrances to the room.

"A liner setting up at the west entrance. I see only one." Andrew responded, switching out of the camera view to control his character.

 _"I don't have sight,"_ Jean hissed. _"Kevin?"_

Just as he said that, distant shots rang out through Andrew's headphone, somewhere ahead and to his right. A second later, the kill feed lit up blue with text showing up that indicated Kevin had killed an enemy.

 _"Not anymore,"_ Kevin replied.

"We're up one, 10-12." Andrew updated them.

 _"Soon to be 11-12._ " Kevin said, and Andrew could practically hear the smirk on his face. He rolled his eyes.

 _"Just take the damn point, Day."_ Thea hissed, scolding him. From the corner of his eye, she saw Thea nudge Kevin's chair and made him spin out a bit. He quickly readjusted his seat, and glared at her.

 _"What do you think I'm doing right now?"_ he hissed right back.

"Stop flirting and clear comms." Andrew deadpanned, and the two instantly shut up, letting their other team members make callouts of their own.

Somehow, their team had made it to the final round of the Exy Twitch Rivals Tournament. With a prize pool of $75,000 and the first place team getting $36,000 of it, the 8 teams that competed were ruthless, all vying for the hefty cash prize. Most of the teams competing have already played together before, and were well-oiled machines in terms of teamwork. But thanks to each of their high individual skill, Andrew's team made up for their half-assed and hastily thrown together teamwork with impossible clutch plays and honed game sense.

Andrew had to admit, his team was good and they had a decent chance of winning this stupid thing. Kevin and Jeremy were talented strikers, knowing exactly where to flank the enemy and which cameras were key to have Andrew get access to. Alvarez and Jean were extremely calculated liners, always placing their traps and bombs in the perfect place to catch enemy strikers off guard while trying to get a cheeky capture point. Thea was a master at juggling offence and defence as a dealer, supporting each of their teammates in the most opportune of moments. And then there was Andrew, the only one with access to the map and the technical aspects of the game, relaying every bit of information that was key to victory.

He's seen what people said about him on the Exy subreddit. How he didn't care about the game (which was true), how he was the most uncooperative out of the player lineups (half-true), how he wasn't even good at the game (completely false). But none of the comments fazed him, because he knew what he was capable of.

Sure the rest were the arms and legs of the team, but Andrew was the brain, shot-calling where each person should go and what to look out for. Not to mention, he was a pretty fucking good shot too.

On top of their base tower, Andrew had eyes over nearly everything on their side of the map. The capture points, the hallways, the people. Including the enemy striker that was sneaking up behind Jean as he was setting up a trap at Neutral. 

_"Merde!"_ Jean cursed as his character barely moved out of the way to avoid the spray of shots. _"One on me-!"_

Andrew scoped in to his sniper rifle, and barely needing to adjust his aim, blew the head right off of the striker. The kill feed lit up blue. "Dead. 11-12, now."

 _"Holy shit, Andrew! That shot had to have been over 200m!"_ Jeremy complimented.

 _"Make the score 12-12, actually_." Alvarez snickered, a loud explosion sounding in the distance. In the kill feed, it showed that one of Alvarez's traps had detonated and killed the other enemy striker that was trying to flank them.

 _"13-12,"_ Kevin said, and when Andrew checked the map, he saw that Point B was now highlighted in blue, signalling it was back in their control. 

A satisfied feeling bubbled in his chest, that he didn't bother trying to fight down this time. "Let's fucking do this."

 _"Is that Andrew getting hyped?"_ Jean asked in astonishment.

 _"Fuck, yeah!"_ Jeremy whooped.

 _"You said it, Andrew!"_ Alvarez cheered.

 _"Good job, everyone."_ Thea said.

 _"Okay, team."_ Kevin said, voice confident and proud. _"We're winning this."_

* * *

Neil jumped as his phone suddenly began to ring. For hours, he had been working non-stop, so the sudden interruption was jarring to say the least. He turned off the sewing machine in front of him, and answered before he could even check who it was.

"Hello?" he answered.

 _"Where are you right now?"_ Andrew's voice asked through the phone.

"Hello to you too," Neil said, sarcastically. "I'm at home, why?"

_"You're not streaming, right?"_

"No, I'm not." Neil was beginning to get suspicious now.

 _"Good."_ Andrew said, and through the line there was the sound of him getting up and closing the door of a car.

"Were you driving? Where are you right now?"

 _"Outside your house."_ Andrew answered, nonchalantly.

"What?" Neil sputtered.

He dropped everything he was holding, not caring that he was still in his pajamas at 4pm, and ran to his balcony. Standing there as promised in the middle of his driveway, was Andrew Minyard, looking as impassive (and incredibly hot) as ever.

Neil hung up the phone and squinted down at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in town." He responded, raising his voice slightly. "Get dressed, we're going out."

"What?" 

"I said: Get dressed, we're going ou-."

Neil waved his hand to stop him. "No, no. I heard what you said the first time."

"Then hurry up, I'm idling." And with that, Andrew walked off and stepped back into his Maserati. 

Not knowing what else to do, Neil complied. He quickly threw together some jeans and a t-shirt and half-jogged half-sprinted out the door to the car. For dramatic effect, Andrew blasted on the horn a few times as Neil awkwardly shuffled across the driveway and into the passenger's seat. He turned to Andrew, who was dressed in his signature leather jacket with some expensive looking sunglasses on his face. The suave appearance reminded Neil of one of those 70's bad boy characters in the movies that ended up seducing the naive lead. But that implied that Neil would be playing the part of the naive lead, which he refused to be in this scenario. 

Seeing how Neil was blatantly checking him out, Andrew lowered his sunglasses and peered over the rim at him with a bored look. 

"Hi," Neil said, shaking himself out of his thoughts. 

"Hello," Andrew responded, pushing his sunglasses back up. "Where is a good coffee shop here?"

"Oh, um... There's one on University Ave." 

"Okay." Andrew said, and took off down the street at an undoubtedly illegal speed.

"Woah, what are you doing?" Neil asked, gripping onto his seat anxiously.

"Going to get coffee," he responded casually. 

Andrew took a sharp turn and Neil's body jerked to the side, bumping into Andrew's elbow. He flinched and immediately retreated out of his space, knowing how Andrew feels about physical contact. But to his surprise, Andrew paid no mind to it and kept his gaze set on the road ahead.

"Right, coffee..." Neil said, rubbing the back of his neck. "And why am I here?"

Andrew shot him an unimpressed side-glance from behind his sunglasses. "Are you stupid?"

"I feel like that's been established already." Neil shrugged.

"Remind me to not give you any credit next time."

"Will do."

The rest of the 5 minute drive went by in comfortable, albeit a little confused silence on Neil's part. Halfway through, Andrew took his phone out (to the many loud complaints from Neil about texting and driving, which were shut down immediately) and started playing some music from a band they both liked. Excited, Neil jokingly started to sing the lyrics, shooting Andrew expectant looks to get him to join in. Eventually, Andrew caved and reluctantly began to sing along in an uninspired monotone. Whatever, he would take what he could get at this point.

When they arrived at the modest looking exterior of his favourite coffee shop, the song had just ended and Neil finished air drumming the last drum fill in a glorious finale.

"Alright, this is it!" he said. He turned towards Andrew to find him already staring at him, a strange expression on his face.

As quickly as it came, the expression was gone. "Let's go."

The two entered the cafe in tandem, and Neil breathed in the familiar scent of dark roast coffee. He remembered all the times he jogged over there at an ungodly time in the morning because he couldn't sleep, and ordered a double shot espresso to get him through the day without any sleep. Good memories.

Andrew approached the counter, Neil following quickly behind him, and squinted up at the hand-written blackboard menu. One of the baristas took up stand at the cash register, and when she saw Neil standing there, she smiled.

"Oh, hello Neil! It's been a while," she said. "Where have you been?"

Neil chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Er, with my new Keurig?"

"You cheater!" she said, accusingly.

"Can I still get my usual?" he asked, jokingly.

"I'll make an exception." She smiled.

Neil turned towards Andrew, who now had a pair of reading glasses on his face to try and read the chalk scrawl (he looked a little nerdy, which was incredibly cute to Neil). After a minute, he seemed to give up and tucked the glasses into an inside pocket of his jacket, trading it back for his Ray Ban's.

"Give me the sweetest drink you have," he said simply.

The barista nodded and turned to the machines to get their drinks ready. Neil shot Andrew a look, and Andrew returned it with a scowl of his own.

"What?" he asked, accusingly.

"Nothing, nothing." Neil held his hands up in surrender, moving towards the pick-up counter. "You just didn't seem like the type."

"What are you implying, Josten?"

"Well, looking at your general person..." Neil gestured at his all-black, intimidating attire. "You rub me off as more of a black coffee kind of guy."

"Why would I drink something that tastes like regurgitated goat piss?" he deadpanned.

"For the aesthetic?"

"Fair point."

Once they got their drinks, Neil with the signature house blend, and Andrew with his caramel macchiato (with extra whip cream, extra caramel, and two pumps of chocolate syrup, per Andrew's request), the two sat down in one of the corner booths near the window. Neil settled into his seat and watched as Andrew sipped the drink, cringed, and piled in three more packets of sugar before drinking it again. He quietly snorted to himself, and Andrew shot him a glare.

"Your staring isn't endearing, Josten. It's just rude," He commented snidely.

"I can't help it, you're just so-." _Cute._ Neil stopped himself before he could finish his sentence and cleared his throat. "You're just funny, is all."

"Then you have a strange sense of humour." Andrew said, throwing away the empty sugar packets with a little _too_ much force.

Neil laughed, and the two settled back into another comfortable silence. That's something he enjoyed about Andrew's presence, it wasn't demanding. In other circumstances, Neil would be bending over backwards to try and find some inane topics to fill the awkwardness with, but with Andrew it didn't feel necessary. It was like everything with him was always full. Whether it be the conversation, or the silence, it was always filled with something a little more meaningful than others he'd be with.

"Alright, I have to ask." Neil finally piped up. "What are we doing here?"

Andrew took a long sip, before saying. "Drinking coffee."

"First of all, that's barely considered coffee. Second of all, you know what I mean."

Andrew set his cup down and looked at Neil, his eyes darting over his face and taking in every detail, like he was searching for something that wasn't there. A moment later, he spoke.

"I won," was all he said.

Neil tilted his head to the side. "You... won?"

"Yes."

It took a moment for Neil to realize what he was talking about, and when he did he felt a surge of pride. "Oh wow, congratulations!"

Andrew nodded, a blank expression on his face as he took another sip of his drink. On the surface he didn't look particularly impressed with this accomplishment, but Neil had a feeling he cared at least an inkling, or else he wouldn't be here right now.

"So, is this your way of celebrating? Did you invite me here to celebrate with you?" Neil asked, cheekily. Andrew rolled his eyes.

"You think you're so cute, huh?" he quipped.

"I'm not hearing you deny it, though."

"I am denying it right now."

Neil chuckled, leaning forward on his elbows and trying to get a peak at his face, which was turned to the side in disinterest. "You're a terrible liar."

"You're terrible _and_ a liar." Andrew shooed him away with the wave of a hand and Neil backed off obediently.

"Then, cheers to being terrible." Neil held his cup up towards Andrew, and reluctantly he lifted his own to tap the two drinks together. They simultaneously nodded and drank the rest of their respective drinks in comfortable silence.

They exited the cafe side by side, chatting amicably about whatever came to mind, letting the conversation flow from one topic to the other. Before either of them could even register what they were doing, they had entered the Maserati and drove all the way back, pulling up in front of Neil's house.

Neil frowned, disappointed that their time together was already over. He glanced at the time on the dashboard. It was 7pm. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him.

"So..." Neil trailed off. How was he supposed to phrase this without sounding like an idiot?

Andrew raised a single eyebrow at him. "Spit it out, Neil."

"Right, um-" Neil cleared his throat, in an attempt to hide his buzzing nerves. "Did you want to stay for dinner?"

_Please say yes, please say yes._

Andrew seemed to contemplate it for a moment. His eyes darted to the time, and back to Neil, considering him for a moment.

"Sure." He nodded simply.

_Oh, thank god._

"Alright." Neil said, not bothering to hide the smile that curled onto his mouth.

The two got out of the car and entered the home together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was originally intending to post this on sunday, but i sorta got carried away with the date thing and the details of it. i was actually going to try and fit the full andreil date thing in this chapter, but decided it felt right to split it up into two chapters. as if yall are gonna complain, let the fluff train continue!
> 
> also just know that i thrive on attention and love, so all of your comments on this fic are honestly so so lovely to read! every single time i get a little flutter in my heart, y'all are the best deadass <33
> 
> follow me on [tumblr](http://arisushanti.tumblr.com/) and [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/arisushxnti/)!
> 
> i made an inspo playlist based off this fic, you can listen to it on spotify [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4edHc4k7Kd5EOqGGLxrDRZ?si=mr2d9FY8ShaqnAM0J72J1A)
> 
> if you like my writing, consider supporting me by donating to my [ko-fi page](http://ko-fi.com/arisushanti)!


	8. Quid Pro Quo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the moment you've all been waiting for :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have fun with this one, y'all

Andrew rehashed the events of the day that lead to him sitting on Neil Josten's couch on a Sunday night, eating corn chips and hummus while watching the re-run of his Exy games on Neil's Samsung TV. He woke up, ate a chocolate granola bar, listened to Kevin's stupid strategy ramblings that he would inevitable ignore once the game started, played video games live for over 50k people, won $6000 for clicking heads, impulsively drove over to Josten's house, went on a non-date with him, and now here he was.

Andrew did everything in his power _not_ to look at Neil who was sitting merely a foot away, instead focusing his attention to the game on screen (though it felt useless to watch, considering he already lived through what was happening). Once arriving back at the house, Neil immediately turned on the TV and went to YouTube to search for the replay of the games that day, complaining about how he couldn't believe he missed watching it live. 

"Seriously, you should have told me you were playing today!" Neil said, flipping through Twitch's official channel until he found the video dedicated to Team Day's games. 

"I wasn't aware you were interested in Exy," Andrew responded with a shrug.

"Are you kidding me? I used to play it all the time back when it first released." Neil explained, and to that Andrew raised an eyebrow. 

He looked through Neil's old videos before (for research purposes), and none had Exy in them. Interesting. "Yet, you never made a video on it."

Neil chuckled sheepishly at that. "That's a bit of a funny story, actually..."

"I am beside myself in suspense."

Neil sighed, grabbing the remote to turn down the TV volume. "Whenever I play fast-paced multiplayer games like that, I get a bit of an... attitude problem. I tried to record my competitive matches, but they ended up just being me getting pissed off at my teammates and going off on them. So in the end, I just scrapped the recordings and only played it off-camera."

"After all, you have a goody-goody reputation to maintain." Andrew said, half sarcastically and half not. 

"Yeah, exactly." Neil agreed, ignoring the jab. "I want to set a good example to people, and I don't think trash-talking my teammates is the way to do it."

Andrew hummed in understanding. Of course, his situation was almost the complete opposite, whereas he was _expected_ to shit talk people. Nonetheless, the idea was the same for the two of them. Every public figure had a certain image to maintain, for the sake of being able to sell the brand they present as, to people who want to watch certain types of content. Like how kid's toy unboxing videos are disgustingly bright and preppy to attract children, whereas his content is all dry humour and emotionless faces. There have been many times where he's throw video ideas into the trash, knowing his fans weren't there to watch that type of content. After all, it was a business at the end of the day.

"Were you any good?" Andrew asked, because he was genuinely curious.

"Well, I was a Class I Striker in ranked mode, if that counts." Neil responded casually. "But for everything else I was Class II."

There were two modes in Exy, casual and ranked. Casual was pretty self-explanatory, it was laidback and people were there to mess around, whereas in ranked people played to win. The ranking ladder in Exy went from Class V being the lowest, to Class I being the highest. For each of the four roles- Striker, Dealer, Liner, and Keeper- you had four different ranks to show how proficient at each one you were. In Andrew's case, he was Class I for everything (except Liner, because he thought the role was boring and didn't bother playing it), which is probably why Kevin would constantly bombard him with offers to join a team. 

The fact that Neil was in the top percentile for Strikers, and ranked high in the other roles, meant that he must have put quite a bit of time into the game to become that good. Interesting.

"Wow, what a shot!" Neil exclaimed. Andrew turned to look at the TV and saw that he was watching the moment when he saved Jean from the flanking Striker. "What was the distance 210m or something?"

Andrew scoffed and rolled his eyes. "230m," he said, trying not to sound like a bragging douchebag.

"You really are amazing, you know." Neil's eyes were bright and dazzling as he turned to him. 

Andrew glared, hating how he felt embarrassed. "What is with you today and the sucking up?"

"$6,000 is a lot of money..." Neil trailed off, and gave him a wink for good measure, a teasing smile on his face. Andrew wanted to kiss it right off.

Just then, the doorbell rang and Neil perked up, pausing the game on the TV to answer it. A moment later, he came back with white takeout bags in his arms, grinning.

"Hungry?" he asked, holding out a bag towards him.

In response, Andrew's stomach grumbled loudly and Neil laughed as he snatched it out of his hand greedily. The two settled into the couch next to each other, eating their Chinese takeout and not even bothering to get a proper plate and eating it right out of the container. It was good. The food and the feeling.

The game on the TV ended and the autoplay moved onto one of those lo-fi music for gaming videos. Neither seemed keen on reaching two feet to get the remote to turn it off, so they let it play quietly in the background. 

Halfway through, Andrew asked. "Do you have any drinks?"

"Sure, I got some coke, sprite, mountain dew, orange juice, apple juice, mango juice-" Neil started to list off on his hand, but Andrew cut him off with a raised hand.

"I meant booze, dumbass." 

"Oh, right, of course you did." Neil scratched the back of his neck. "Er, I think I have some Soju?"

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "Why that of all things?" Not that he was judging, but it seemed like an odd choice for someone that doesn't drink to have available.

Neil shrugged, seemingly having no explanation for it, and got up to retrieve it. He came back with a familiar green bottle and two shot glasses with cartoon fox faces on the front. Andrew looked from the glasses to Neil with an unimpressed face, and Neil flushed.

"It was a gift from Dan and Matt when I turned 21..." he mumbled in explanation.

Andrew snorted. "All of your fox memorabilia is appalling."

"Well, I like it, so fuck off." Neil pouted and poured some Soju into the two tiny glasses.

He handed one off to Andrew and the two clinked the glasses together, simultaneously knocking it back. Instantly, Neil began to cough and sputter, pounding his chest to get rid of the slight burn. 

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Drama queen."

"Says you!" he coughed. "You're the most dramatic person here."

"Name one time, Josten." Andrew challenged. He reached for the bottle and started pouring out another round for them.

"Alright, fine!" Neil said. "Take today for example. Who calls someone _just_ to say they're outside of their house in a slick, expensive car?"

"Lots of people." Andrew handed Neil his glass by the rim, who snatched it out of his hands forcefully.

"You and I both know you're full of it." Neil said, a knowing, satisfied smile on his face.

"Just drink your Soju, dumbass."

* * *

Neil threw his hand of cards (a full house) against the coffee table, groaning at his umpteenth loss. 

"You're cheating. I just know it." Neil accused Andrew, who was leaning back casually on one arm, the other raised to show the cards in his hand (a straight flush, that bastard).

Andrew dropped his hand to the table and scooped the remainder of Neil's chips towards him. "Don't be mad because you're bad at the game."

"I'm not bad!" Neil pouted, then grumbled afterwards. "I was taught by the _best_."

This seemed to catch Andrew's attention, but he said nothing of it, pouring Neil his two loser shots and his one winner shot. Annoyed, Neil took the two glasses and slammed them back at the exact same time, not even caring about the stinging burn that he has still yet to get accustomed to. When he looked up again, Andrew was staring right back at him, a strange look in his eyes.

Neil cleared this throat and Andrew seemed to shake himself out of whatever was going through his mind. "The bottle is empty," he said.

Indeed it was, and Neil just shrugged. "It served it's purpose."

"The purpose being what?" Andrew snorted.

"Getting into somebody's system." Neil said and began to slowly lean back until he was lying down on his carpet. He was vaguely aware of Andrew peering across the table to look at his lying form, but the buzzing in his brain was too loud to care.

"Alive over there?" Andrew's face appeared over Neil's own, the lights of the living room illuminating him from the back in a dreamy sort of way.

"No." Neil groaned. "Why is it that I always end up drunk whenever I'm with you."

"You didn't have to drink."

"I know, but I didn't want to be a rude host and let you do it alone."

Andrew scoffed. "Since when did you care about being rude?"

Neil shrugged and pulled himself up to sit back on the couch. He glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was just past midnight. 

"It got late fast," Neil said.

"It did," Andrew responded, and after a moment added on. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No, no, no, no!" Neil said, quickly, waving his hands in the air. "It's too late and you're drunk-"

"I'm not drunk." Andrew said, his words blending together.

"Right, sure." Neil rolled his eyes. "I don't want you to get a DUI, so you can just sleep here for the night."

There was a pause from Andrew, until he replied. "Okay."

"Okay." Neil nodded.

A beat of silence

"Can I ask you something?" Neil spoke up.

Andrew blinked rapidly, shaking himself out of a thought, before replying. "Depends."

"Depends on...?"

"What I get in return."

Neil chuckled, squinting in thought. "You can ask me a question."

Andrew considered the offer for a moment. "A _quid pro quo_ , then."

"Exactly."

Andrew nodded. "Alright, you have my attention, Josten. Deal."

Neil took a deep breath. "Why don't you ever correct them?"

Andrew shot him a look that said to explain further, so he continued. "I mean, like, when they say all that shit about you."

"You're going to need to be a bit more specific than that."

"You know, those nicknames. Monster or whatever." Neil shrugged.

"Why would I correct them if they're right," Andrew said.

Neil frowned. "But you're not a monster."

"If one has done monstrous things in the past, does that not make them a monster?"

Neil paused to think for a moment."No, it makes them a survivor." 

Andrew turns to Neil then, a look of shock and something else on his face. Neil mustered his most earnest smile in return, and Andrew scoffed, rolling his eyes. Call him crazy, but Neil swore he saw a hint of red on Andrew's face (though that might have just been because he was drunk). Either way, point to Neil.

"My turn," Andrew said.

"Ask away."

"Which way do you swing?" Andrew asked without a moment of hesitation.

Neil choked on air, pounding on his chest to make him stop. That was not what he was expecting him to say.

"I-... What?"

"I said which way do you swing."

"No, I know what you said, it's just-" Neil took a moment to gather himself. Guess it's time to come out with it. "I don't think I do. Swing, that is. Like, at all."

"Huh." Andrew said, almost looking stumped. "So, you're asexual?"

"On the spectrum, I think." Neil felt relieved to be saying this out loud. "Last year I was searching the internet for some sort of answer, and came across demisexuality. So, I think I'm that."

"That's where you're only attracted to people you have a connection with, right?"

"That's correct." Neil affirmed.

Andrew narrowed his eyes for a moment, looking past Neil in thought. Then, he came to and nodded, seeming to resolve whatever was going through his head.

"Good for you." Andrew deadpanned, but Neil could tell he actually meant what he was saying.

"Thanks."

"It's your turn."

"I know." Neil already knew what he wanted to ask. "So, how about you? Which way do you swing?"

Andrew snorted. "Is that seriously your question?"

"Hey, you asked me the same thing!" Neil protested.

"You shouldn't ask questions you already know the answer to."

Neil frowned. "But I don't know?"

"Right, sometimes I forget that you're an idiot." Andrew rolled his eyes. "I'm gay."

"Oh, right, of course." Neil nodded, trying his best to keep it cool despite the sirens in his head.

Andrew's gay. Does that mean he liked Neil? No, he shouldn't be an ass, just because someone likes guys doesn't mean they'll like every guy in existence. But also, he wasn't stupid enough to not know what people thought of him. Matt and Dan would always tease him about how cute he was, so did Andrew think that too? Did he think he was cute? Neil had no idea, Andrew was like a brick wall. The real question was, does he think _Andrew_ is cute. After careful consideration and observation, Neil has come to the immediate conclusion that, yes, he does think Andrew is cute. More than cute, actually. Like, really cute. Maybe even _hot._ Maybe even _sexy._ Maybe even-

"Neil."

"Yes?" Neil startled and looked up. He didn't know when it happened, but Andrew was all of a sudden very close to him, just a foot away.

"That whole thing was flattering and all, but I'm more concerned for your incredible lack of brain to mouth filter." Andrew's face was made of stone and Neil's heart dropped.

Well, looks like this was it. It was time to die. Neil buried his face in his hands and groaned.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that-"

"Clearly."

"This is why I don't drink, I say stupid stuff and do stupid things. Please just forget everything you heard-"

Andrew cut him off by grabbing his chin and forcefully bringing it up, so Neil was looking at him. "Stop it."

"Okay..." Neil let out a breath. They stayed like that for what felt like forever, Andrew's eyes burning a hole through Neil's entire being. 

"It's my turn."

Neil nodded wordlessly, his heart twisting in his chest.

"Can I kiss you?" Andrew asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Neil stared at him, blinking. Andrew spoke up again.

"Neil, yes or no?"

"Yes," he breathed out, desperately.

Then, Andrew's lips were pressing against his own, and Neil was on fire. All of the pent up tension in his body was released in that single moment. Every racing thought that had kept him up at night left his mind, as he closed his eyes and melted into Andrew. Every shift, every touch, every bite was like an inferno waiting to consume him whole. Andrew Minyard was not cold, he was not made of ice. Andrew Minyard was a wildfire, and Neil was catching fast.

Andrew's hand moved from gripping his chin to his waist, and before Neil could even process what was going on, Andrew was tugging him into his lap. Neil immediately took the invitation to wrap his legs around Andrew's waist and press their bodies even closer. Neil could feel Andrew's wild heartbeat against his chest, one that matched his heart's own. Neil's arms stayed at his side, unsure where he was allowed to touch. He was no stranger to Andrew's rules, and he wold abide by them no matter the situation.

Andrew seemed to catch on to his awkwardness, and grabbed Neil's hands, pushing them up into his hair.

"Just here for now." He mumbled against Neil's lips.

Neil nodded, and ran his fingers through Andrew's hair, reveling in how soft it was. To test the waters, Neil gave a little tug and Andrew bit down on his lip, releasing another tiny moan from Neil's lips. Neil tugged again, harder this time, and Andrew literally _growled_ into his mouth, pulling Neil impossibly closer.

"Andrew," Neil sighed, pulling away from his lips to instead attack his neck, pressing open-mouthed kisses along his collarbone up to his jaw.

"What?" he breathed out, trying (and failing) to not sound out of breath.

"We can go up to my room for this." Neil asked, pulling away to look at him. "Yes or no?"

"Yes." Andrew said immediately, and through a show of incredible strength, lifted Neil clear off the couch with him still straddling his waist.

Neil gasped in surprise and let Andrew carry him to his room, the two of them smiling the whole way up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> neil: which way do you swing?  
> andrew: wHiCH wAY dO YoU SwINg?? god shut the fuck up neil or else ill kiss you on the mouth
> 
> i didn't bother editing this because i was so fucking lazy so excuse any mistakes that were made.


End file.
